How to start investing

Published on July 19, 2023, 11:59 a.m.

Start saving now. Open a brokerage account. Make a plan. Follow it. 

Still have no clue what to do? There you go...


1. Open a brokerage account. If you are just starting and you are based in Romania, I suggest to pick one from Bucharest Stock Exchange - Top of intermediaries.

2. Make a plan. Decide how much you should invest. Use this website for that, is really good at this! But if you don't want to do it the right way: take half of your deposits and invest them in the stock market. That's still better than having no investment at all.

3. You don't know what to buy. Relax, only a few actually know, but many pretend they do. Now you can use this website to decide what to buy. But if you have more important things to do with your life (congrats!), here's what statistics say it would be a good and simple thing to do: take the 6-10 most liquid stocks on the stock market. Spread your investments equaly among them. And that's it, that's your plan.

4. Since you are a little bit more confident now, add international exposure by buying instruments that replicate some well-known indices, such as DAX or S&P. Stay simple, don't use margin. And in case you missed that, stay simple, don't use margin. Really, don't!

5. Devil is in... not being consistent. If you decided to invest whatever,  5, 10 or 90 percent of your income monthly, do it consistently, do it every month. There is some risk comming from the evolution of your investments, but that's nothing compared with the gravity of you not following the plan. Not even the best advisers and brokers or markets going up can help you if you don't actually implement the strategy. Alternatively, markets sometimes go down or trades will be executed with delay, but if you stick to your long term plan, you should be able to attain your objectives.

Besides, sticking to your plan and strategy is the only thing that YOU can control. That is your direct responsability.

For all the rest, let the markets to their thing.