Investing with your own money for the first time is nerve-wrecking — what if the market goes down? When do you stay on-course and when do you cut your losses? What if you end up losing money?
News flash: these fears are normal. Even the most seasoned investors were once just as anxious as you are now.
The five principles below will get you started on the trade:
1. Define your goals (short, medium or long)
Investment should not be an aimless game for bigger numbers but a tool to get what you want in life. Know your objectives well, so you can plan your investment strategy accordingly. How much you invest and the risk you are willing to take should fit your goals, not the other way round.
This is called your "time-horizon" and it's probably one of the most important factors when deciding what to invest in.
First, an example of a short term goal: a travel trip or a new phone within a year. The riskier way to go about is short-term or day trading in the stock market; the safer way is a fixed term deposit with a high interest rate or a money market fund.
The mid and long term goals are the life-changing ones — your first home’s down payment, emigration plan, children’s college fund, etc. These require — and deserve — more time and thoughts in planning. Putting your life goals on hold is no good so make sure you're building a diversified portfolio and investing regularly to mitigate your own risk.
One more thing: review often how achievable your goal is. Chasing unrealistic riches like a conquistador looking for El Dorado will get you nowhere.
2. Watch your daily balance
You end up with what you have not spent. The less expensive your lifestyle is, the more you have to add to your investment fund every month.
Today onwards, try to record your daily expenses to understand your spending behaviour. You may find that the daily $30 coffee for the past year could have been one lot of China Construction Bank (00939) shares in your portfolio. Of course, living a life you don't enjoy wouldn't be healthy or sustainable either, so don’t go overboard with cutting costs and pruning your lifestyle.
3. Always be learning
Many beginners hesitate in fear of failure, missing chances upon chances; others enter the market without a proper strategy or mentality and overreact to irrelevant market fluctuations. Investing is not rocket science, but it’s not child’s play either. Start reading financial news and books, and get familiar with common jargons like “blue chip stocks”, “utility stocks”, “index fund”, “price-to-earning ratio”, etc. Analyses and commentaries are also a great resource to gain a deeper understanding on the movements of markets and individual stocks.
With knowledge comes the ability to identify right investment decisions and the confidence to make them.
4. Keep calm
Unless you are an AI investment bot, be prepared for moments of impulse, waver and doubt.. especially when the market appears to be going down!
In case you are looking for an AI investment bot...
Robo-advisors can take the thinking out of investing - compare them now
Your rationality must prevail. A part of you will want unrealistic gains but it's important to be realistic and think about your goals first. As long as you have a diversified portfolio and are taking your goal's time horizon into account, you'll be fine!
5. Prepare for rainy days
Not everything goes according to plan. Unanticipated unemployment and medical expenses will cost you. Without an emergency fund, you may need to prematurely cash out on the investment you have made, taking a toll on your lifestyle and the grander plan for the future. It is highly recommended to reserve at least six months’ worth of living expenses in cash, and top it off with accident, medical and other insurances as you see fit. Remember to always keep a card up your sleeve as you can't be sure what the future holds.
Ready to start investing?
HK Market
US Market
Robo Advisors
Futubull
Other Fee
N/A
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 15
Welcome Offer: Welcome Offer: Enjoy up to HK$2,100 welcome offer
Register a new account on or before 31st October 2024 by using Planto exclusive promo code “PLANTO” can enjoy the below rewards:
1) Planto exclusive offer : Enter promo code “PLANTO” BEFORE account opening can enjoy HK$300 flight ticket cash coupon
2) Lifetime commission-free for HK stocks and US stock LV2 real-time streaming quotation services
3) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$10,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$10,000 or above to receive : Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) - 1 share or HK$400 supermarket e-voucher or HK$600-equivalent BTC
4) Open an account, deposit a total of HK$80,000 or above into the Futu HK account. Maintain 60 days daily average asset* of HK$80,000 or above to receive : Nvidia (NYSE:NVDA) – 1 share or HK$1,000 equivalent BTC
Redemption procedures : Download Futu app; Register an account and go to Activity Centre; Enter “PLANTO” in redemption centre before account opening. Detailed procedures can refer to review article
All rewards can be stacked. As of the closing price on 1 Oct 2024, Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) stock price was US$112.74/share As of the closing price on 1 Oct 2024, Nvidia (NYSE: NVDA) stock price was US$117/share
Asset calculation method: Sum of the everyday assets/60 days; Including Cash/ Stocks/ Funds/ Options/ Futures
Investment involves risks. The fund price may move up or down. Investor should thoroughly study the funds' offering documents and other related documents (including risk disclosure statements).
Terms and Conditions apply
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
Transaction Fees: Commission-free for HK stocks and Cryptocurrency. HKD 15 / trade as a platform fee only.
For a HKD 10,000 trade, that's: HKD 15 per transaction (excl. mandatory costs by the HK Exchange, etc.).
Tiered pricing also available for people with larger number of trades (min. HKD 1 / trade)
Futu will provide users with free LV1 real-time streaming quotation services (including Hong Kong stocks, options, and futures)
Products Available:: HK, US and China stocks, ETFs and Crypto Currency. Selected funds available via Futu MoneyPlus.
Crypto Currency Trading : : support direct trade with HKD and USD without USDT exchange before trading
Margin Trading: Annual interest rate as low as 3.98% (for advanced investors)
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)
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Tiger Brokers
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
HKD 0
Welcome Offer: Successfully open an account through Planto’s exclusive link then complete certain tasks until 11th October 2024 to enjoy up to HK$2,300 worth of reward:
- Exclusive HK$400 supermarket vouchers from Planto after depositing HK$10,000 , plus:
1. Time-limited Commission-Free Rewards
-0 Commission for HK stock trading (Lifetime)
-0 Platform fee for HK stock trading (until 11th October 2024)
-NYSE Arca Level 2 Deep Quote streaming for US stocks (until 11th October 2024)
-0 Commission for US stock option trading (until 11th October 2024)
-US Stock Option Lv1 Real-time Quotes (until 11th October 2024)
- 365-day A-share commission-free voucher (available by opening an account before October 31, 2024)
2. New clients account opening awards, fund more for 45 consecutive days to get more (please refer to T&Cs for detailed qualifications)
- Net deposit* HK$10,000 or US$1,500 or above : to activate HK$300 stock voucher (3x HK$100 vouchers) and 3-month free HK Stock Lv1 streaming quote
- Net deposit* HK$50,000 or above : to activate HK$600 stock vouchers (6x HK$100 vouchers)
- Net deposit* HK$100,000 or above : to activate HK$1,200 stock vouchers (12x HK$100 vouchers)
3. Complete 5 non-forex trades with each trade amounting to or exceeding HK$100 within 60 days after successful account opening (applicable to both Hong Kong and US stocks) : to activate HK$700 stock voucher (7x HK$100 vouchers)
* Net deposit = deposit amount - withdrawal amount, excluding the part of asset increase or decrease due to normal transactions.
^Daily cumulative net deposits = (from the account opening date) cumulative deposit amount - (from the account opening date) cumulative withdrawal amount, excluding asset fluctuations caused by normal trading activities
* Offers are subject to terms and conditions
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
$0 trading for both Hong Kong and US stock by applying during the promotion period
Invest Hong Kong stock, US stock, US fractional shares, ETF, stock options. The platform also supports margin trading with APR as low as 2.88%
License: Registered member of the HKEX and licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 2, 4, 5)
Welcome Offer: New customers who successfully open a Webull account through the Planto website's link can enjoy Apple shares worth up to HK$1,688!
- Successfully open an account, deposit HK$10,000, and maintain the funds for 60 days to receive Apple stocks worth HK$600.
- Successfully open an account, deposit HK$80,000, complete 10 buy trades, and maintain the funds for 60 days to receive an additional HK$1,088 worth of Apple stocks.
- New users can enjoy 90 days of 0 platform fees for Hong Kong and US stocks upon opening an account.
- Trade 50 or more option contracts to enjoy 0 commission and 0 platform fees on option trading.
Longbridge
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
HK$0
Welcome Offer: On or before 31 October 2024, apply via Planto by using promo code「614701」, successfully open an account and deposit HK$10,000 to receive :
1) Planto exclusive HK$200 supermarket coupon
2) Extra HK$100 cash rebate
3) Life-time commission free for HK and US stock
4) APR 6% offer for deposit
5) Deposit HK$10,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : NVDA.US - 1 share OR deposit HK$60,000 for 60 days with 4 tradings : AAPL.US - 1 share
New customers who transfer the stock to LongBridge and meet designated requirement can get either 1) AirPods 4 ; or 2) an iPad mini 6 ; or 3) iPhone 16 Pro Max
Terms and conditions apply
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
- Transaction Fee: For US stocks, commissions of US$0.0049 per share (min. US$0.99), and platform fees of US$0.005 per share (min. US$1) - 0 commission during promotion period.
- For a US$1,000 trade with 5 shares, that's about: US$2 (excl. mandatory costs by the SEC, etc.).
- Product available: HK and US stocks and ETFs
- Margin trading: Annual interest rate of 4.8%
- License: Licensed by the SFC (Type 1, 4, 9)
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Interactive Brokers
Other Fee
0
Avg. Trade Cost
Welcome Offer: Earn up to 4.83% annual interest rate on positive settled cash balance for accounts with total NAV of US$100,000 or higher.
(Accounts with NAV of less than US$100,000 receive interest at rates proportional to the size of the account. Interest rate if for reference only, it may change any time according to market condition)
Pros & Cons
Basic Info
- Transaction Fees: For US stocks, commission fee of US$0.005 / share to US$0.0005 / share
- Product available: Stocks, options, futures, currencies, bonds from 150 exchanges in 34 regions including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and India
- Margin Trading: as Low as 5.3%
- Hong Kong SFC license: SFC license Type 1,2,3
Working for almost 10 years in journalism while accomplishing small life goals of owning a home and starting a family, my personal finance rule number one is “never rely on a single source of income”. The next challenge is learning to be a working father.
