By admin 
If you’re wondering when you should start investing, the answer is: as soon as possible. Time is your best friend when it comes to growing your money and achieving your goals. The sooner you start investing, the more time you’ll have to build up capital and enjoy compound returns (by constantly reinvesting your investment income). The longer you stay invested, the easier it will be to ride out short-term market downturns. Generally, you’ll want to invest your money for as long as possible, meaning you won’t have to use it in the meantime.
To help you stay invested longer, it’s essential to have an emergency fund (most financial experts recommend setting aside three to six months’ worth of expenses). That way, if you lose your job or have an unexpected expense, you won’t have to sell an investment while the market is down. So before you start investing seriously, make sure you have enough savings to cover your short-term needs.
Once you have this emergency fund, you can probably start investing as soon as you have extra money that you won’t need for at least five years.
How to start investing?
Step 1: Set goals
When it comes to money, you’ll have a hard time reaching your goal if you don’t set goals for yourself. Start with small, achievable investment goals and then move on to more ambitious goals. This way, you’ll gain confidence as you move forward.
Your goals should:
Have a goal. You may have different reasons for wanting to build up capital—buying a car, making a down payment on a home, putting money toward your children’s education, or saving for retirement. Each of these goals may require a different strategy depending on the amount of money you need and the time you have to accumulate it.
Be specific. A vague goal is hard to achieve. Be specific about how much you want to invest and how long you have to spend it. In other words, ask yourself how much you want to invest and when you will need to access the funds. This can influence your investment choices and the risk you can tolerate.
Be achievable. If you miss your goals often, you may become discouraged. So set smaller goals that you can achieve. Give yourself every chance of success.
Step 2: Choose your investments
The type of investment – “asset,” “security,” or “product” – you choose should match your goals, investment time horizon, and risk tolerance.
Many types of investments – stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds, etc. – carry some risk, especially in the short term. However, the longer your investment time horizon, the more time you will have to recover from downward fluctuations in your assets.
For example, if you’re 35 and want to save for retirement, you have a long-term investment horizon. If you decide to invest in stocks, which are generally riskier than other common investments, you’ll have time to ride out the stock market’s dips. Conversely, if you’re investing to buy a home in a year or two, it might be wise to avoid riskier investments. That’s because if the value of your investment drops just when you need to cash it out, you’ll have less money than you expected when you need it.
To better narrow down your investment choices, you’ll also need to do some research. Qtrade investors have access to a wealth of resources to find and evaluate investments, from screening tools and technical research to analytical reports and company performance indicators. In addition, Qtrade Direct Investing™ provides portfolio analysis tools that will help you build your investment portfolio, test investment scenarios and assess the health of your portfolio in several important areas.
Step 3: Make it easy to achieve your goals
Often, people delay investing because they mistakenly believe that they need to invest a large amount. In fact, most investment accounts don’t require a minimum investment. Plus, there are several ways to increase your investment amount. You start small – and you’ll gradually get closer to your financial goals.
Automatic contributions/deposits. In most cases, you can schedule an automatic transfer (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc.) of a specific amount from your checking account to your investment account. You could schedule this transfer to coincide with your payday, so you don’t have to think about it. You’ll build up cash in your investment account and have it available to purchase an investment at the right time.
You can also make automatic contributions to Qtrade Companion Portfolios , an online service that helps you invest according to your financial goals. Every time money is deposited into your account, it is automatically invested in your portfolio.
Systematic contributions to a mutual fund. Some investment products, such as mutual funds, offer you the option to automatically purchase shares with each regularly scheduled automated transfer.
Dividend Reinvestment Plans. These programs allow you to automatically reinvest cash dividends from your investments to purchase additional shares. This way, you benefit from compound returns over time and accumulate more shares.
Thanks to new investment products and advances in technology, it’s easier than ever to start investing—in a way that fits your goals, risk tolerance, and time commitment. You don’t need a lot of money to get started. If you’re new to investing, you may want to start small while you learn and gain confidence.