What Do I Invest In?

It is easy to say, “set aside a part of your income towards investment”, “invest at least 10% of your income” and the likes; however, the question here is “what do I invest in and how can I access it?” or maybe, how do I keep investing in different investments monthly?”

Investment is broad and there are a lot of options ranging round stocks, real estate, mutual funds, bonds, treasury bills, Exchange-Traded-Funds (ETFs), Agritech, cryptocurrency and the likes.

So, how do you know which one to invest in and how you can access them?

Before I go into this, let me reiterate the preliminary guidelines on investment.

• There is a risk-return relationship which means that the higher the potential returns, the higher the risks attached and vice-versa. What this means is that when the returns are higher, there is a higher risk to the security of both your money and the returns you are to get on it.

• Know your risk tolerance- this means knowing the level of risk you can handle. Risk is the possibility that the outcome may not go as expected. Some may live with that and resiliently bounce back while some others may most probably have a mini heart attack if anything happens to their money ?. Know how much of risk you can handle!

• Have investment goals- Why are you investing? This is one question you must answer before investing. Your reason for investing must be clearly spelt out. Is it to generate a side-income? To accumulate wealth? For retirement? Whatever the reason, spell it out.

We can classify investments based on their risk levels- low risk investments, medium risk investments, high risk investments and very high investments.

Examples of low-risk investments are money market instruments like mutual funds, investment deposits, treasury bills.

Examples of medium-risk investments are real estate, Agritech, ETFs.

Examples of high-risk investments are local and foreign stocks

Examples of very high-risk investments are forex investments, because of their volatility.

It is ideal you have a good mix of different risk options in your portfolio- depending on your level of risk tolerance.

Have an Investment Strategy that suits you (this should spell out how much percentage should go to the different risk classes e.g., Sarah can have an investment/allocation strategy of 30% of her investable income goes to stocks, 30% goes to mutual funds, 20% goes to Agritech and 20% goes to Cryptocurrency). This should guide you in your month-by-month investment (You can calculate your investable income for a year and use this asset percentages to allocate your monthly investments).

You can access a number of these investment options via Fintech Apps. They have made investment so easy! You can also access some of these options via Asset Management Firms. Google, they say, is your best friend. You can browse the internet to check out those around you which also suit you!