4 best practices to invest in stocks and make money
You likely won’t see serious growth without heeding some basic market principles and best practices. Here’s how to ensure your portfolio will do as much work for you as possible.
- Take advantage of time:
Although it’s possible to make money on the stock market in the short term, the real earning potential comes from the compound interest you earn on long-term holdings. As your assets increase in value, the total amount of money in your account grows, making room for even more capital gains. That’s how stock market earnings increase over time exponentially.
- Set it and forget it — mostly:
If you’re looking to see healthy returns on your stock market investments, just remember — you’re playing the long game.
For one thing, short-term trading lacks the tax benefits you can glean from holding onto your investments for longer. If you sell a stock before owning it for a full year, you’ll pay a higher tax rate than you would on long-term capital gains — that is, stocks you’ve held for more than a year.
While there are certain situations that do call for taking a look at your holdings, for the most part, even serious market dips reverse themselves in time. In fact, these bearish blips are regular, expected events, according to Malik S. Lee, certified financial planner and founder of Atlanta-based Felton & Peel Wealth Management.
So-called market corrections are healthy, he said, not that “it shows that the market is alive and well.” And even taking major recessions into account, the market’s performance has had an overall upward trend over the past hundred years.
- Maintain a diverse portfolio:
All investing carries risk — it’s possible for some of the companies you invest in to underperform, or even fold entirely. But if you diversify your portfolio, you’ll be safeguarded against losing all of your assets when investments don’t go as planned.
By ensuring you’re invested in many different types of securities, you’ll be better prepared to weather stock market corrections. It’s unlikely that all industries and companies will suffer equally or succeed at the same level, so you can hedge your bets by buying some of everything.
- Consider hiring professional help:
Although the internet makes it relatively easy to create a well-researched DIY stock portfolio, if you’re still hesitant to put your money in the market, hiring an investment advisor can help. Even though the use of a professional can’t mitigate all risk of losses, you might feel more comfortable knowing you have an expert in your corner.
If you’re looking for an expert to specifically help with your investments, it could be worth considering a financial advisor. Financial advisors focus on providing personalized advice on your investment portfolio, typically for a fee based on a percentage of assets under management.
Another lower-cost way to get a little guidance on investing is to use a robo-advisor. This can help you build a diversified portfolio and rebalance it when needed, often for a lower fee than a traditional financial advisor — though, of course, this service is digitally based, rather than provided through a human relationship.