Can you learn to invest? A question that always seems in vogue. More in these times, when many technological advances have allowed many to obtain the necessary knowledge to manage money and capital.
First of all, a quick review of what it means to invest is required. In simple words: it is the spending of economic resources (money) in order to obtain a benefit in a given time. The remuneration to which one aspires does not have to be only economic.
Learning to invest is not something that can be achieved in five minutes. Like all learning, it requires discipline, determination and perseverance. These lines are not intended to expose any magical or miraculous formula. It is a simple enumeration of basic precepts.
Basic concepts
Before going a little deeper into the subject, it is necessary to review basic concepts related to the notions of investment.
Cost effectiveness
It is the benefit to which you aspire when making any investment. It depends on variables that are not always under control of those who invest. Like political or economic changes. Russia’s invasion in Ukraine or the Covid-19 pandemic are two examples of how the context can affect the return on an investment. Both positively and negatively.
Risk
Every investment involves risk. There is no investment that is completely safe. In addition, there is a proportional relationship between the concepts of profitability and risk. The higher the expected return, the higher the risk to be assumed.
Time horizons
There are short-term investments (up to one year), medium-term (from one to five years) and long-term (beyond five years). These temporary variables are determined by the specific goals that are expected to be achieved.
Diversification
You don’t put all your eggs in one basket. An important part of learning to invest is doing it in different economic sectors. This also diversifies the risks and increases the chances of obtaining dividends.
The path to learn to invest: you have to study
Like everything in life, to obtain knowledge in a certain subject, you have to spend time researching and learning.
You can take advantage of the immense wealth of information available on the internet. Social networks can serve as filters to access this knowledge. Of course, “all that glitters is not gold”. You have to be very careful when choosing sources of information.
Know yourself
Knowing yourself is as important as managing investment notions and strategies. You have to invest without going against your personality, without having to give up your fundamental principles. Of course, any learning process requires flexibility to assume and execute changes. But it will always be necessary to know first what you want to change and why.
Investing demands careful management of emotions. It is not about giving up intuition, but about regulating impulses and not being dominated by them.
Strategy
Once clear goals are set, it is possible to build strategies to achieve them. Although there is always room for inventiveness, innovation and creativity, it is not always necessary to reinvent the wheel.
How to learn to invest? Not stop studying
We insist on this aspect. The world never stops spinning. Everything is constantly changing. To always keep up-to-date, you can’t stop studying and learning.
The offer of courses and diplomas is quite wide. The same as the options at the university level, both at the bachelor’s degree level, as well as in regard to specializations and master’s degrees.
