How to Start Investing: A Step-by-Step Guide

It’s never too early to learn how to start investing.

This ultimate guide of how to start investing is created for beginners of any age and at any wealth level.

Want to start investing? The best way to start investing is to learn the fundamentals and this guide covers them all.

What is investing? It’s setting goals for your future and balancing the risks and rewards of where to put your money.

Investing is a continuous process. It takes decades to build wealth and decades to preserve wealth.

You might wonder how to begin such a journey. Well, you begin by defining our goals. So let’s start.

Your investing journey starts with three questions. 

Your answers will help guide the right investment strategies that best fit your current situation and needs.  

Before You Start Investing

Before you start investing, ask yourself these three questions.

1. What Are You Trying to Accomplish?

In other words, why are you trying to invest? Are you:

• Working toward a comfortable retirement?
• Saving for a college education?
• Investing to take a trip around the world?
• Protecting savings you’ve already accumulated from inflation? 

Your financial goal determines your investment objective. And no matter what your financial goals are, it can be categorized into one of these four investment objectives:

• Growth
• Income
• Capital preservation
• Tax benefits

When you select where to invest, you want to pick an investment portfolio with objectives that meet your goals.

What is your investment objective based on your financial goals?

2. When Will You Need the Money?

When do you need to achieve your financial goals? How much time do we have left?

The financial market operates in cyclical cycles, or ups and downs, and you want to keep your money in an investment until the cycle comes out of the downtimes. This could take years.

So if you need the money soon, consider a short-term investment strategy where you don’t need to wait for too long.

Short-term investment strategy also tends to be lower in risk.

To start investing, you need to become comfortable leaving your money in an investment for years and decades – and be tolerable of the short-term ups and downs.

When do you need money? And are they invested in a place that matches your financial timing?

3. Do Market Declines Make You Anxious?

So you should understand your emotional stability during times of crisis before you start investing.

Are you tolerant of risks? Would you freak out and pull your money out when your investment tanks 25% in one day?

And do you tend to sell when everybody else is panic and selling?

Knowing how risk tolerant you are is essential because it will impact your investment strategy.

How anxious will you be when the market declines? And how should your investment strategy match your risk comfort?

Build a Better Portfolio

Do you want high risk or low risk? 

Higher-risk investments typically have a higher potential for return. Lower-risk investments generally have a lower potential return.

The best investors use these two investment techniques to build a better portfolio and performance. Let’s take a look.

Diversify Investments

The first technique you need to learn to start investing is diversification.

Diversification means spreading money among multiple investments so that gains in one area help compensate for losses in another.

By investing in an index fund like the S&P 500, you are diversifying your investments by spreading your money across 500 of the largest companies in the United States.

This way, you are never losing too much money.

Optimize Asset Allocation

The second technique to start investing is asset allocation.

Asset allocation means dividing your investment dollars across major asset classes (stocks, bonds, cash, etc.) to maximize performance.

Asset allocation utilizes statistical analyses to measure how different asset classes tend to perform in relation to one another.

When your assets are perfectly allocated, you are maximizing your return at every risk level.

Whether you know it or not, you already diversify and allocate your assets: perhaps putting some of your money into a 401K, others in a savings account, and more through the ownership of a car or house.

Choosing an ideal asset allocation for your financial needs, timing, and risk is the goal in life, and a challenging goal to achieve. But we can try.

Are your assets diversified and perfectly allocated based on your investment goals, timing, and riks?

Ideal Asset Allocation by Age

Your ideal asset allocation likely depends on your age.

Younger investors can often afford to be more aggressive investors because they have more time to recover from losses.

So if you are young, invest at least 75% of your money into stocks, preferably 90% to 100% if you have a place to fallback.

As you approach retirement, you may still want to consider investing some of your money into the stock market. How much? Well, if you are an aggressive retiree, perhaps 65% of your money can go toward stocks. But if you are conservative, still put 35% of your money toward stocks.

The stock market has had a great ride from 2009 to 2020. Many people forget what it was like to lose everything in the stock market. But be cautious going forward, the past does not predict the future!

Dollar-Cost Averaging: Staying on Schedule

Investing has a start date but it has no end date.

To start investing is like running a marathon. It takes consistent, step-by-step actions to see great results.

Investing is all about staying on schedule. And to stay on schedule, use dollar-cost averaging.

Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is an investing technique. It means you buy a fixed dollar amount of an investment on a regular basis, regardless of fluctuating share prices. 

DCA is often the best way to invest.

Why is DCA the best? When you invest $100 into the S&P 500, that $100 buys more shares when the share price is low and fewer shares when the price is high.

DCA is an effective way to steadily accumulate shares. Over time, DCA might give you an overall lower cost per share over time. 

Just make sure you are financially and emotionally stable enough to be consistent.

Otherwise, dollar-cost does average doesn’t work because you lose during years when you’re too afraid to invest and lose when you’re too greedy and invested too much.

Rebalancing: Getting Back on Track

Rebalancing is a process that returns a portfolio to its original risk profile.

It typically requires buying or selling assets periodically to maintain the desired asset allocation.

Asset balances tend to shift over time, especially during periods of market volatility. When your balance shifts toward more stocks than you’d like to have, it leads to “an overexposure to risk”.

Similarly, when you have too much bonds, your portfolio might be too conservative to meet your long-term goals.

Changes in your life could also trigger a need to rebalance. Many people choose a more conservative portfolio balance as they approach retirement.

Have you checked your portfolio lately? Are your investments balanced for your long-term goals?

Are You Going for Growth, Income, or Stability?

Let’s look at what happened in the past 20 years to predict what might happen in the next 20 years for your investments.

In the growth below, notice how the investment categories with the highest returns also have the most volatility?

• A $10,000 investment in large-cap stocks on January 1, 1999, would have grown to nearly $30,000 by 2019.
• The same $10,000 invested in small-cap stocks would’ve grown to nearly $60,000
• A $10,000 investment in Treasury bonds would have reached $26,066.
• For a similar investment in corporate bonds, we’d have $28,641.

The lesson learned here is that small-cap stocks win the game. But small-cap stocks are also highly volatile and riskier. So it’s more suited for younger investors.

How to Start Investing in Stocks

When you buy an individual stock, you are actually buying a piece of the company. 

As a partial owner, you make money if the company does well.

If a company is profitable, it may reinvest profits back into the business or pay dividends.

In theory, if a company makes more money, the value of its stock goes up. But that’s not always the case.

When the stock price becomes disproportionate to the underlying company earnings, we call the stock either overvalued or undervalued.

Investing by Market Cap

Some investors choose to diversify their stock portfolios by market capitalization, a measure of a company’s size and value. 

Small companies typically have characteristics that distinguish them from large corporations, so their stock prices don’t always behave the same way. 

Large-cap companies tend to be more stable and thus have less growth potential.

Mid-cap companies tend to have a greater potential for growth and loss.

Small caps tend to be the most volatile of the three in terms of both growth potential and risk. 

Foreign Stock Investments

Foreign stocks may also perform differently than domestic stocks, creating the potential for growth at times when the U.S. market declines.

However, investing internationally carries additional risks, such as differences in financial reporting, currency exchange risk, and economic and political risk unique to the specific country.

Any of these factors could create greater share price volatility and not necessarily greater returns.

Growth vs. Income Stocks

Income stocks are stocks that pay high dividends. That’s why they’re also called dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend-paying stocks tend to be mature companies, they tend to be slower growing, though not always the case. Just look at Microsoft: a fast-growing tech company paying 1.5% in annual dividend yield!

Dividends are income that you can reinvest to buy more shares or take out to spend as ordinary income. Dividend stocks are the most attractive to relatively conservative investors, including retirees. 

A typical income stock is AT&T. It has a dividend yield of 5.4% in 2020, which means if you invest $10,000, you’d get $540 of dividend income.

Growth stocks have low dividends but a high, but volatile growth rate. A typical growth stock is Tesla, which over the years has gone 50% in both directions.

How to Start Investing in Bonds

When you buy a bond, you are lending money to a government or company. In return, you get regular principal and interest payments.

Bond is an option to help you to generate a steady income.

Bonds are also less volatile than stocks, so people use them to balance stock market fluctuations. Bad news for the stock market may be good news for the bond market.

A bond’s maturities generally range from 30 days to 30 years. You can buy bonds directly, or trade them on the open market before their maturity dates.

Bond prices on the open market rise or fall in response to changes in interest rates. Bonds with short-term maturities tend to be less sensitive to interest-rate fluctuations than bonds with longer-term maturities. 

The value of the total U.S. bond market was $43 trillion in 2019. Here is how they break down by the types of bond:

U.S. Treasury Bonds: Safest Investment

The United States government borrows money from the public in the form of U.S. Treasury bonds.

U.S. Treasury bonds are some of the safest investments. They’re alsoguaranteed by the United States federal government.

As of 2019, the U.S. government owes the public $16 trillion dollars.

Corporate Bonds: High-Interest, Safe Alternatives

Corporate bonds typically offer higher interest rates than government bonds because companies could default on their obligations.

Of course, investments seeking to achieve higher yields also involve a higher degree of risk. So corporate bonds have higher interest rates.

There are three rating agencies (the “big three”): Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s, and Fitch Group, that assign ratings to corporate bonds.

The agencies evaluate the company’s credit quality, or ability to pay back debt and assign ratings (A+ to F) based on their assessment.

Municipal Bonds: Tax-Free on Interest Rates

Municipal bonds are issued by state and local governments to finance public-works projects such as roads, sewers, schools, and stadiums. 

The interest paid by municipal bonds is exempt (i.e., free) from federal income tax. Though you may have to state income tax depending on where you live.

Municipal bond has a lower interest rate, but it’s still attractive to investors in higher income tax brackets because its tax-free yield may be worth more to them than the after-tax yield from a higher yield bond.

For example, a 3% tax-free yield is the same as an 4.62% taxable yield for an investor in the 35% federal income tax bracket. 

Cash and Cash Alternatives

Cash alternatives are the most stable investments. There is little fluctuation, and thus, little growth and volatility.

For this reason, cash alternatives provide some protection during turbulent economic periods. It’s also an appropriate place to keep emergency funds.

Bank savings accounts usually offer safety in the form of FDIC insurance for up to $250,000 per person. But it has a low rate of return.

Certificates of deposit are short-term loans to a bank, credit union, or savings association.

CDs offer a moderate rate of return and FDIC insurance. But CDs also require a longer initial investment. You can’t get your money out for months and years.

Money market funds invest in short-term debt securities and usually liquidate easily.

Many investors use the money market to hold the proceeds of investment sales until they can reinvest it again.

Although cash alternatives are more stable than stocks and bonds, they may not keep pace with inflation.

For the 30-year period ending in 2019, U.S. inflation averaged bout 2.48% a year.

Assuming a 2.48% annual inflation rate, a bag of groceries at $50 today would be $37,000 in 30 years!

How to Minimize Portfolio Risks

Investors face risks when they put their money into an investment. This is a reality no matter how you invest.

These risks could vary, from macroeconomic to company-specific.

Below, I’ll quickly summarize the major types of investment risks, and show you specific strategies to minimize each risk type.

Specific, Event-Based Risks

Some events may affect only a certain company or industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the perfect example of an event-based risk that wiped out the travel industry – who would’ve thought? Well, nobody, and that’s why you can’t bet all of your money in any singular industry no matter how bullish you are.

For example, management decisions, product quality, and consumer trends can affect company earnings and stock values.

To minimize specific, event-based risks, diversify your investments to many companies across many unrelated industries.

Market Risks

When the market falls, it tends to pull down the value of most individual securities with it.

Afterward, the affected stocks may recover at rates more closely related to their fundamental strength. 

Market risk affects most types of investments across all industries, including stocks and bonds.

To minimize market risks, have a long-term investment strategy where you can ride these market-level business cycles.

Economic Risks

Corporate earnings can suffer when the economy falters all together.

Though some industries and companies may adjust to downturns in the economy very well, others – particularly large industrial firms, could take longer to recover. 

To minimize market risks, make sure you diversify your investment across industries and company sizes.

Interest Rate Risks

Bonds and other fixed-income investment prices are sensitive to changes in interest rates.

When interest rates rise, the value of existing bonds falls because the newer investments are more attractive due to their higher interest rates. The vice versa is also true: when interest rates fall, existing bond prices rise.

After all, why would someone pay full price for a bond at 2% when new bonds are being issued at 4%?

To minimize interest rate risks, invest in bonds of varying maturities and hold at least some bonds with short-term maturities.

Credit Risks

Bond yields are closely tied to their perceived credit risk, which is the possibility that a borrower will default (fail to make payments) on debts.

Defaults can result in losses of principal and interest, disruption of cash flow, and collection costs. 

Bonds with a BBB- rating (on the Standard & Poor’s and Fitch scale) or Baa3 (on Moody’s) or better are rated as “investment-grade”.

Bonds with lower ratings are “speculative”; we call them “high-yield” or “junk” bonds.

To minimize credit risks, avoid buying only junk bonds and consider buying investment-grade bonds.

Inflation Risks

Inflation is the increase in the prices of goods and services over time.

The reality of inflation poses a threat to our life because it could reduce the future purchasing power of our assets. 

When you evaluate the return on investment, consider the “real” rate of return adjusted for inflation.

To minimize inflation risks, invest!

Also, don’t store too much cash under a mattress or inside a checking account with no interest rate.

And lastly, put your emergency fund inside a savings account that gives you an interest rate close to inflation (2%).

How to Start Investing in Mutual Funds and ETFs

Unless you are a professional stock trader, I recommend that you do not trade stocks. Got that? DO NOT DAY TRADE.

All of that infomercials out there promising you to get rich quick by learning how to day trade is FAKE.

If you want, put 10% of our net worth into a few stocks you believe in, and keep it there. As for the rest of your money? Put them in low-fee mutual funds and ETFs at Vanguard.

Mutual Funds: The Best Investment Vehicle

And how do you start investing with mutual funds and ETFs?

Mutual funds pool money from investors and use it to build a portfolio that may combine stocks, bonds, cash alternatives, and other securities. 

Mutual funds could be passive or active.

If it is an active fund, a professional investment manager buys or sells individual investments for the fund according to the fund’s specific objectives. 

If it is an index fund, the mutual fund is constructed to match or track the components of a market index, such s the S&P 500 index.

Index funds often aim to provide broad market exposure and low portfolio turnover.

Mutual funds are always sold by prospectus. Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing.

Key Mutual Fund Benefits

Mutual Funds are Flexible

Mutual funds enable you to customize your investment portfolio.

You can choose from a wide variety of investment styles and objectives to suit your investing profile.

For example, some funds may focus on long-term appreciation, whereas others may focus on generating current income.

You can also adjust quickly to changes in your lifestyle or your market outlook.

Diversification through Mutual Funds

Most mutual funds invest in dozens to perhaps hundreds of securities, offering a level of diversification that individual investors would find difficult to maintain without a large investment of time and money. 

And since diversification is THE critical factor to success, unless you have over a hundred million dollars in net worth, stick with mutual funds!

Target-Date Mutual Funds

Target date funds are hybrid mutual funds that include a mix of assets: stocks, bonds, and cash alternatives. The exact mix automatically shifts over time to become more conservative as the account holder ages. 

The target date of the fund is the approximate date when an investor plans to withdraw his or her money – typically the expected year of retirement (such as 2030, 2040, or 2050).

The further away the date is, the greater the risks that the target-date fund usually takes. 

As the target date grows closer, the mix of investments generally becomes more conservative.

The “glide path” is a formula that determines how the asset mix will change over time.

Two funds with the same target date often have different investment holdings, turnover rates, and glide paths. 

Therefore, you must look beyond the target date to evaluate whether a particular fund is an appropriate investment. 

Target-Date Fund vs. Balanced Fund

An alternative to target-date fund is a balanced fund. While target-date funds are wildly popular, I prefer balanced funds.

Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

Like a mutual fund, an exchange-traded fund is a portfolio assembled by an investment company.

An ETF’s underlying investments are typically selected to track a particular market index, asset class, or sector – so they are very similar to index mutual funds.

But while mutual funds are priced once daily after the market close, ETF shares can be bought and sold on an exchange throughout the day just like individual stocks.

As a result, supply and demand may cause ETF shares to trade at a premium or a discount relative to the value of the underlying shares. 

Like mutual funds, ETFs can be used to create a broad core portfolio or to target narrower market segments.

Overall, investors should pay less fees and expenses with ETFs. Passively managed ETFs generally have slightly lower expense ratios than index mutual funds because trades usually occur only when there are changes in the benchmark index. 

Individual investors sometimes must pay a brokerage commission each time ETF shares are traded. But if you buy a Vanguard ETF from Vanguard, then it’s free, same for Fidelity or Charles Schwab.

Why Buy ETFs?

Because of their structure, ETFs also tend to be more tax-efficient.

In general, investors will trigger capital gains taxes only when they sell shares for a profit.

However, some ETFs may occasionally distribute capital gains if there is a shift in the composition of the underlying assets. 

Some of the characteristics that make ETFs appealing may also make them riskier. For example, the ability to buy or sell shares quickly during market hours could prompt some investors to trade too often or make emotional trading decisions during periods of market volatility.

There are now more than 2,000 ETFs. The proliferation of ETF choices means that investors can gain market exposure in a variety of new and sometimes complex ways. 

But today, U.S. investors still hold more money in mutual funds than they do in ETFs because only mutual funds but no ETFs can be purchased inside as part of a 401K.

ETFs, like mutual funds, can be purchased for IRAs.

Should You Start Investing in Annuities? (Hint: It’s Bad for Everyone)

An annuity is a contract with an insurance company in which the contract owner agrees to make one or more payments to the insurance company in exchange for a future income stream. 

This is a common thing insurance companies sell to the elderly and the less educated. It sounds like a great investment option.

But annuities are terrible and “not worth it” for. almost everyone. And I’ll explain why below.

A fixed annuity “guarantees” a set rate of return during the life of the contract, supposedly offering some relief for retirees who worry about the possibility of outliving their assets. 

Typically, annuity owners may choose to receive payouts as a lifetime income, an income that lasts for the lifetimes of two people, or an income that lasts for a specific number of years.

A variable annuity offers the potential for growth through market participation. The contract owner can invest the premiums among a variety of investment options, or “subaccounts,” according to his or her risk tolerance, long-term goals, and time horizon. 

The future value of the annuity and income available for retirement are determined by the performance of these selected subaccounts.

You fund an annuity with a lump sum or a series of payments. 

You buy an annuity with after-tax dollars. Then, earnings are tax-deferred until withdrawn. When you withdraw, earnings are taxed as income.

Why Annuities are Scams

Annuities are terrible compared to 401Ks, IRAs, or any of the retirement accounts. You do not get savings on taxes.

With 401Ks and IRAs, your money grows tax-free, or you invest with pre-tax money.

With annuities, you use post-tax money, then your earnings are taxed again, and taxed at income level, not capital gains.

So you pay more tax and higher tax rate, not great compared to opening your own investment accounts.

Annuities: Taxed Twice

Annuities also have contract limitations, fees, and charges.

Fees from annuities are complex and hidden, including mortality and expense charges, account fees, investment management fees, administrative fees, charges for optional benefits, holding periods, termination provisions, and terms for keeping the policy in force. 

These charges are super expensive, they reduce your earnings and are exactly what you think it is: scam fees.

Annuities: Guaranteed or Not?

Any annuity guarantees are also contingent on the claims-paying ability and financial strength of the issuing company.

Because annuities are not guaranteed by the FDIC or any other government agency, your money could be gone forever if the insurance company goes bankrupt.

For a variable annuity, your payment is not guaranteed and you have little control in where your money goes.

In the end, like any investment, your money could decrease due to market decline and fees.

Managing Your Tax Burden

If you take advantage of tax-deferred plans such as 401K and IRA, you generally don’t have to worry about paying taxes until retirement when you withdraw money.

But when it comes to taxable accounts it might be wise to consider the tax implications of your investment decisions. 

Looking for business tax and legal guides? Check out Tax Deduction and Legal Guide for Small Businesses

Investment Tax Treatment

The tax code treats long-term capital gains and qualified dividends more favorably than ordinary income. Income could be wages or interests from bonds and savings accounts.

Long-term capital gains are profits on investments held longer than 12 months.

Nonqualified dividends and short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

High-income taxpayers may also be subject to a 3.8% net investment income tax, officially called the unearned income Medicare contribution tax or the NIIT.

If your Modified Adjusted Gross Income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 if you’re married and filing jointly) you may be subject to the NIIT.

Net investment income includes capital gains, dividends, interests, royalties, rents, and passive income.

Understand Tax Implications of Fund Distributions

Mutual funds will always distribute capital gainst that is not offset by losses to shareholders on an annual basis. The difference is whether it gets taxed now or later.

When mutual funds are held in taxable accounts, distributions are taxable to shareholders for the year they’re received, even if the distribution is reinvested in new shares.

Investors will also trigger capital gains taxes when they sell fund shares for a profit within a taxable account.

This is not the case if mutual funds are held in pre-tax (traditional) or Roth accounts: distributions and capital gains are not taxed until they are withdrawn.

In a pre-tax or Roth account, selling and buying a different investment will not trigger capital gains tax as long as you do not withdraw it.

Some types of mutual funds turn over securities more frequently and may not be ideal for taxable accounts because they will trigger more taxes.

For taxable accounts, buy mutual funds with a passive investment style. 

Fund Distribution Timing and Their Tax Implications

Investments that generate interest or produce short-term capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

Ordinary income is taxed at higher rates than long-term capital gains and qualified dividends. So we try to avoid short-term capital gains whenever possible.

Before purchasing mutual fund shares in your taxable accounts, check the timing and amount of upcoming distributions so you don’t incur unnecessary taxes on gains that you didn’t participate in.

Dividends earned in traditional IRAs are not taxed when they are paid or reinvested, rather retirement account withdrawals are taxed at one’s current income tax when they are withdrawn.

Roth IRA funds grow tax-exempt, including the payment of dividends, and so these are not subject to taxation.

Starting Investing by Overcoming Bad Investing Behavior

In spite of every investor’s good intentions, some behavior tendencies can stand in a way of sound financial decision making.

For example, scientists have identified cognitive biases that may cause people to ignore critical facts and/or focus on information that may not be important. 

And clearly, normal emotions can drive hasty decisions that could harm the long-term performance of your portfolio. 

Chasing Performance

It’s easy to see why investors may be tempted to move a lot of money into the asset classes or individual investments with the highest recent returns.

The problem with the approach is that past performance does not guarantee future results, so today’s “hot pick” could turn into a loser when conditions shift.

Panic Selling

When investors pull out of investments because they are afraid, as opposed to evaluating fundamentals, they often end up selling at the worst possible time and buying against at higher prices after the markets recover.

Panic selling is the #1 reason why people lose everything during a recession. The recession itself has no impact. Our actions, however, have huge impacts on our investments.

Acting on News

By the time the average investor learns about economic developments or other events that could affect individual investments and their financial markets, it is usually too late to respond effectively.

It’s very likely that the news is already reflected in the prices.

Watching Mad Money? Don’t. Jim Cramer has been wrong too many times than I can possibly count. This show is only entertainment.

Ignoring Inflation

Investors should be aware of the potential risk of inflation because even modest price increases compounded over time can erode the purchasing power of the assets in their portfolios

Wasting Time

Time is a big contributor to financial success.

This example shows how waiting to put your money to work through investing, instead of acting right away, could cost you thousands of dollars over time.

Same amount of money, 5-year difference, 33% more value.

How to Start Investing? Stop Procrastination Today

Investing doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does take some effort to develop an appropriate strategy and start putting it into action.

Many people delay this important task, often because they are worried about not having the knowledge or experience to make good decisions.

Procrastination is. natural, it’s human nature. In fact, procrastination can make you successful in some cases.

But procrastination is bad for investment.

If you are procrastinating, it may be worthwhile to seek some professional guidance, read a book, and sit down with your family and start the conversations. Find outside accountability if you can’t find it inside.

Where will you go from here?

Maintaining a long-term perspective and sticking with a thoughtfully crafted investing strategy may help you reach your desired destination.

What’s Next?

Looking for index funds to invest your money? Read Best Vanguard Funds for Every Stage of Your Life.

Everyone I know is worried about the recession coming. Are you? Read this guide to learn the Psychological Hacks to Win During a Recession

Learn the fundamentals of building a pro wealth mindset that makes money: Want to Make Money? Build a Pro Wealth Mindset First