Top strategies for how to multiply your money. If you’re saving for a house deposit and hoping to buy in a couple of years, investments such as shares or funds will not be suitable because their value goes up or down. Stick to cash savings accounts like Cash ISAs. If you’re saving for your pension in 25 years’ time, you can ignore short-term falls in the value of your investments and focus on the long term. Over the long term, investments other than cash savings accounts tend to give you a better chance of beating inflation and reaching your pension goal.
Investors often place great importance on price-earnings ratios, but placing too much emphasis on a single metric is ill-advised. P/E ratios are best used in conjunction with other analytical processes. Therefore a low P/E ratio doesn’t necessarily mean a security is undervalued, nor does a high P/E ratio necessarily mean a company is overvalued. Some mistakenly believe there’s less to lose with low-priced stocks. But whether a $5 stock plunges to $0, or a $75 stock does the same, you’ve lost 100% of your initial investment, therefore both stocks carry similar downside risk. In fact, penny stocks are likely riskier than higher-priced stocks, because they tend to be less regulated.
Properly managing your credit is one of the most critical responsibilities of the financially responsible individuals. Your credit score plays a major role in your financial life. Your credit score determines whether you are approved or declined for major purchases such as buying home, car, or receiving approval for a credit card. Your credit score will also impact the interest rate that you receive on your major purchases. While buying a car at a 0 percent interest rate for 5 years can be a wise financial decision, paying for the same car at an 18 percent interest rate is a poor financial decision. See extra details on How to build a good credit score.
Mutual funds are investment securities that allow you to invest in a portfolio of stocks and bonds with a single transaction, making them perfect for new investors. The trouble is many mutual fund companies require initial minimum investments of between $500 and $5,000. If you’re a first-time investor with little money to invest, those minimums can be out of reach. But some mutual fund companies will waive the account minimums if you agree to automatic monthly investments of between $50 and $100. Automatic investing is a common feature with mutual fund and ETF IRA accounts. It’s less common with taxable accounts, though its always worth asking if it’s available. Mutual fund companies that have been known to do this include Dreyfus, Transamerica, and T. Rowe Price.
Many good investors stress the importance of diversification. But Warren Buffett tends to disagree with the idea. Buffett says that diversification is for people who don’t know much about investing. An experienced investor should choose stocks on a long-term basis and should have faith on his/her investments. Some investors diversify their portfolios because they are afraid that any one stock might sink their entire portfolio; but, while doing so, it becomes much harder to keep track of the current events impacting each company. So, by diversifying, they might reduce the volatility of their portfolio, but at the same time they reduce their focus on individual investments. Buffett waits for opportunities to buy good stocks, and when those opportunities come his way, he takes full advantage. According to Buffett, “When it’s raining gold, put out the bucket not the thimble.”
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. See extra details on Multiply My Money.