Posted in Uncategorized

3 Helpful Investment Tips I’ve Learned in the Last Two Years

Are you on a journey to learn more investment tips? I’m on a path to financial freedom, and investing is a big part of the process.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial or investing expert. These are just my experiences, opinions, and learnings. I added the disclaimer because people have opinions and advice that might be different than mine based on experience and education. I just wanted to share 3 things that would have been helpful for me to know at the beginning of my investment journey.

black blue and red graph illustration - investment tips diagram
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Let’s go back in time to December 2020. That’s when I put my first $10 into the stocks. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I picked some random stocks and went for them.

A couple of months later, they were doing really well. I added more when I could, just $10 here and $10 there. By the time summer 2021 rolled around, the stocks were looking great!

Here is where I made my BIG mistake (well, maybe it won’t be a mistake in 10 or 20 years). I had some retirement savings sitting there, earning 0%. PLEASE check your IRA accounts and make sure you actually INVEST the money. So I filed the paperwork to move it and invested it all during the months of September/October 2021.

At that point, I was subscribing to Motley Fool and following the top stock pick advice. So, hopefully, in the long run, it will serve me well. But the problem was that I invested everything I had when the market was super high. After that, it started dropping and continued into 2022, dropping lower and lower and lower.

Since then, I’ve learned a few things helping me build my IRA and personal investment accounts.

Here are my top 3 investment tips

  1. What CEO’s buy — You can check when CEOs buy stocks of their own companies. Some say this may indicate that the CEO thinks things will go well and the prices will rise. When they buy stocks, they are required to file a form. One website that tracks the purchases is here.
  2. Dollar Cost Averaging — A year ago, I had never heard of this term before. Basically, this means you consistently put a little bit into the stocks for a long time. So over time, the average price you pay for the stock will balance out. This has helped me a lot since I bought a lot of stocks at top dollar. It also helps because I only invest small amounts in different stocks. I now have a diversified portfolio with daily ups and downs in different sectors. However, I think it has strong potential for the long term.
  3. Dividend-paying stocks — One thing to consider when choosing which stocks to buy is the dividend yield. Not every stock pays a dividend, but some do and have consistent returns year after year. If you have a lot of money to invest, this is an easy way to make passive income. If you put all your investment money into dividend-paying stocks, you will get that money to re-invest. These are the stocks I am focusing on in 2023.

I hope these investment tips help you get started on your investing journey! I plan to share more as I educate myself and learn more on my own financial journey.

Being financially literate is very important and schools don’t do good enough job of preparing people to manage the various financial aspects of life. These are tips I wish I would have known years ago, but I’m glad to finally start now!

Posted in Goal, Manifestation

Why I’m Teaching Myself How to Invest NOW

For all of my life, my mindset approaching money has been from a lack mindset. Learning how to invest was never a priority. The common phrases I am used to are:

“We can’t afford that.”

“It’s too expensive.”

“Don’t waste your money.”

“Money doesn’t grow on trees.”

Yet, at the same time charging things on credit cards was completely normal. Especially to have experiences. And for that, I am extremely grateful. I had the opportunity to do some amazing things in my childhood that instilled a love of travel in me even now.

But…

The decision to go to college and take out student loans is a huge part of my existence now even if I try to pretend they’re not there. I won’t be truly debt free until they are gone.

I wish I would have learned about investing sooner. I remember in 7th grade, we played a stock market game that was really fun. However, much of what I heard about it was that it was risky. And it’s for the wealthy people.

how to invest
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Now…

With the invention of YouTube, TikTok, SkillShare, and Coursera, just to name a few, there are more places than ever to teach yourself what you want to know.

And now, I want to know how to invest. I keep hearing about crypocurrencies, NFT’s, and just general bull and bear stock stuff. And I want to be able to understand it and make smart decisions that could set me up for a successful financial future.

A few months ago, I joined Motley Fool. While they send out way too many emails trying to get you to buy other products, I find much of the information useful in learning how to invest.

The reality is that it’s not a get rich quick scheme. It takes patience and long-term commitment to riding out the ups and downs of the market overall.

So, what have I been doing?

For the last year, I’ve been taking the stock recommendations from Motley Fool and other sources to build my portfolio. I follow money Tik Toker’s and YouTuber’s who share practical advice and tips for beginners.

I am building my portfolio by using Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA). Some of my stocks I bought at high prices at the beginning of 2021. Ever since, I have been investing $10-$25 per stock as the prices fluctuate. Hopefully, in the long term this will result in gains as my central price point takes into account the highs and lows.

Now, I still have so much to learn. And I’m eager to keep learning more about investing so that I can travel the world and work from anywhere. This is just one stream of passive income out of many that I plan to develop.

Subscribe to follow my journey and I’ll be sure to share any tips I learn along the way!