Financial strategies

Best methods for how to multiply your money. If you want to be hands-on and enjoy making investment decisions, you might want to consider buying individual shares – but make sure you understand the risks. If you don’t have the time or inclination to be hands-on – or if you only have a small amount of money to invest – then a popular choice is investment funds, such as unit trusts and Open Ended Investment Companies (OEICs). With these, your money is pooled with that of lots of other investors and used to buy a wide spread of investments. If you buy investments, like individual shares, direct, you will need to use a stockbroking service and pay dealing charges. If you decide on investment funds, there are charges, for example to pay the fund manager. And, if you get financial advice, you will pay the adviser for this. Whether you’re looking at stockbrokers, investment funds or advisers, the charges vary from one firm to another.

While large short-term profits can often entice market neophytes, long-term investing is essential to greater success. And while active trading short-term trading can make money, this involves greater risk than buy-and-hold strategies. Many great companies are household names, but many good investments lack brand awareness. Furthermore, thousands of smaller companies have the potential to become the blue-chip names of tomorrow. In fact, small-caps stocks have historically shown greater returns than their large-cap counterparts. From 1926 to 2001, small-cap stocks in the U.S. returned an average of 12.27% while the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) returned 10.53%. This is not to suggest that you should devote your entire portfolio to small-cap stocks. But there are many great companies beyond those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

Funding your retirement is one of the best investments that you can make to ensure the financial future of you and your family. It’s important to plan for your retirement whether you have just finished high school at 18 or are about to enter your 60’s. It is never too early to start putting money away for your retirement. If you are planning on living a comfortable retirement based on Social Security; forget about it! According to USA Today, the average Social Security benefit paid out to retirees is a paltry $1,324 per month, which amounts to just $16,424 per year. Read more details at Why you need a retirement plan.

Saving money and investing it are closely connected. In order to invest money, you first have to save some up. That will take a lot less time than you think, and you can do it in very small steps. If you’ve never been a saver, you can start by putting away just $10 per week. That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of a year it comes to over $500. American Express National Bank currently offers a strong 2.10% Annual Percentage Yield on their online savings account. There is no minimum deposit required and no monthly maintenance fees associated with a Personal Savings Account from American Express so the yield is earned on all balances. The brand also offers high-yield CD’s if you’re in the market for a place to park your cash and are in need of high interest rates.

Imagine you’re buying an ownership stake in the convenience store around the corner from your house. Automatically you’ll think about the competition, suppliers, prices, etc. You’ll have to think both about the specific location as well as its competitive position in the market. Similarly, while buying stocks, you need to think about all these things – just as the people running the business do. When you buy a stock, you’re not just buying a piece of paper or a ticker symbol. Buying the stock of a company is buying an ownership stake in a BUSINESS.

About MultiplyMyMoney : I have more than 12 years of experience as an independent and personal financial and investment consultant. I used to run a financial blog called BuylikeBuffett which provided insight on investing, saving, money management, and all things finance. I am also the author of Your Financial Playbook: A Guide To Navigating The World Of Personal Finance a financial guide written to inform the beginning investor about the basics of the market. I decided to start a new site because I receive a great number of questions about financial topics on a daily basis. I figure that this would be a great way to answer those questions and increase financial literacy. I also figured it would be a good platform to write articles on everything from teaching how to get rich, explaining the basics of cryptocurrency, to detailing ways of rebuilding your credit score. I was the founder and president of New Horizons Financial Management, LLC, and was a registered investment advisor. New Horizons was an independent investment advisory asset management and personal financial consulting firm offering investment advisory services to high net worth individuals. Read extra details at Multiply My Money.