Getting into investment and getting into the investment field are two different things. Becoming involved in the financial sector is all about taking up a career and pursuing it. Getting involved in investments alone is a way of increasing your personal wealth. When you are involved in the investment field as a worker, then you are paid a wage to take risks with other people’s money. When you get involved with investments on a personal level then you take risks with your own money.
What is the most prominent aspect of the financial sector?
The most prominent and immutable fact is that no investment is 100%. Even if you invest in bonds from the government or an ISA, you may still lose your money. The biggest ripples in the financial world have been from seemingly safe investments going bust.
Unluckily for you, you are living in a time when this is a common occurrence. The global economic downturn has meant that during your lifetime you have already seen countries go bankrupt, massive stores go bankrupt, and banks go bankrupt. Even in America your money is not safe, and America is currently the richest country in the world (god help us if Microsoft leaves). So you would think that your US bonds are safe right? But, Congressman Paul Ryan has already announced that he feels people would be willing to miss payments if it meant making America strong again, which is a very slippery slope with regards to reasoning.
Even America has defaulted six times in 1790, 1841, 1842, 1873, 1884, and 1933. Albeit before Microsoft became the institution that it is, and before McDonalds spread around the world. But, even California and Illinois have had meetings as the whether they should default which were held in 2011. So, no investment is ever 100% safe.
Taking it up as a career
If you are looking to get into the financial/investing field as a job, then one would hope that you are a student of some form of economics, math or financial qualification. If this is the case then you are well on your way to entering the field. After qualifying you will have to start from the bottom as a junior assistant unless you happen to go to an Ivy League college or if you happen to do very well in college.
Doing it yourself as a student
Investing is easier than you think, but making a profit is not. It is the same with all business. It always seems easy to sell a few things and make money, but doing it repeatedly, paying overheads and making a sustained profit is difficult. The same is true for investments and financial trading.
You can put your money into “safer” investments that have a lower profit yield, or you can up them into more risky ventures that may make you a quick profit but are more likely to lose all of your money.
You can learn about markers/indicators
There are a lot of different markers and metrics that investors use to make their buying decisions, but you have to be very careful at what you believe. Just because an equation, a process, method or technique is an industry standard does not mean that it is worth anything. Just ask the many, many traders who lost everything during the house price drop, gas price increase, inflation boom, or global economic downturn.
Use a combination of what you are taught, what others do (industry practices), your own experience and your own intuition in order to do your investing.
Where to start?
Save up a little seed money; around $300 should be enough. Now approach a bank that does online Internet and find one that has an online trading section. North America has HSBC banks (a global business) and they have a trading section on their online banking website. They do not charge you for the use of their tools or to put money into the account. All they charge for are trades. You pay a set fee when you buy and a set fee when you sell.
Once you have signed up and have your seed money, you need to start looking at the market. You want to buy what are known as penny shares. This is a nice introduction into the world of investments. They are called penny shares, even though many of them are worth less than a penny. You do not have to use the bank tools to find your penny shares. You can look them up online and then check their background data with your banking tools.
Where the money comes from
Do not forget that the more shares you buy, then the more money you make when the shares go up. If you are buying shares for a fraction of a cent, then you can buy a lot for $300.
Find your penny shares, and check their history. Does their stock price go up and down? Is it at an all time low? Has it been at an all time low for a while? Is it slowly going up? You need to buy them when they are cheap and sell them when the price goes up, but be wary of the ones that are on a seemingly never ending downwards slope, as they may be going out of business. Also, be wary of the businesses that have had a low share price for a while, as they may be treading water or getting into more debt.
Once your share prices go up, you can sell them and pay your fixed fee with the bank, and enjoy all of the money you made. Once you have the hang of buying and selling shares you can start looking into further trading such as “put” options, binary, and international trading/investments.
