You can build your wealth significantly if you establish the right saving and investing habits now. Here are Moneycube’s 7 habits for success.
1. Turn up
Successful savers get stuck in.
Sure, you can build up cash in the bank. But with interest rates at near-zero, if you want to grow your savings, you need to be prepared to take some calculated risks with your money.
For most people, that means investing in company shares – perhaps via an investment fund.
2. Don’t borrow to invest
Borrowing to invest might look clever when the market is climbing.
But it creates one major problem: you can lose more money than you started with. Just ask some of the many Irish people who have been battling negative equity in property investments over the last decade.
In fact, successful investors avoid debt generally. With the exception of a mortgage for the house you live in, it’s almost always better to eradicate debt before investing your savings.
3. Keep it regular
Successful savers and investors don’t put it off. Instead, they develop a healthy and sustainable saving pattern, and stick to it.
Regular investments have 3 big benefits:
- Hassle-free: once your plan is in place, the regular direct debit keeps your investment habit going.
- It cuts the stress of timing the market. Your investment benefits from Euro cost averaging which smooths out ups and downs in the investment market
- You can get started without needing significant capital. (If you can kick-start your regular saving with a lump sum, so much the better).
4. Pay yourself first
Before you do anything else, pay yourself.
Successful investors make sure to put some of their income away in regular investments and savings, first.
5. Invest for the long term
Investing success is counted in years, even decades.
The longer you can afford to put your money away for, the more you will benefit from compounding.
Furthermore, if you’re in it for the long term, it’s much easier to make choices which involve the risk of short-term drops, in exchange for the possibility of long-term rewards.
Lastly, by investing for the long term, you will minimise the impact of the transaction costs of selling one investment and buying another.
6. Ignore the noise
At any time, there will be commentators on the sidelines predicting the Next Big Thing, or Armageddon – or both. The trick for the successful private investor is to know your limits, and to act like an investor, not a speculator.
Yes, cryptocurrencies had a great 2017 – but where do they fit in your long-term plan? The answer will depend on where your investment limits lie (we can help you decide that).
Acting like an investor also means being prepared to ignore the predictors of doom, and ride out volatility in the investment markets.
7. Increase and diversify as you go
Lastly, successful investors increase the amount they save as their income grows, and diversify their risk by investing in numerous asset classes.
If all your wealth is tied up in the Irish housing market, or sitting in cash in the bank, for example, now might be time to make a change.
You could increase your savings rate, and diversify your wealth using investment funds via Moneycube.
We can help you choose funds to can gain exposure to the growth investments as diverse as global commodities, emerging market equities, global companies, and commercial real estate.
Get started with Moneycube today
