Invest your money

Direct Investment

Your choice of investment types fall into two basic categories direct investment in the shares of a particular company or its issued bonds or, in the case of government-issued bonds, its “gilt-edged stock”. The price of company shares, of course, will fluctuate as they are traded on the stock market and the dividends to which you are entitled as an owner of those shares will be determined by the performance of that particular company.

In the case of bonds issued by a company, or gilts issued by the government, however, you will be assured of the rate of interest on what is effectively your loan to that company or the government, and you will be assured of the full return on your investment once the bond or government stock reaches its maturity date. Because of these in-built certainties, there is a lower risk inherent in the investment in corporate bonds or government gilts, and the returns, therefore, tend to be lower than in the more volatile market for shares.

Both corporate and government bonds can be traded in the market, however, before they reach their maturity date. During this time, their price will be determined by the prevailing rates of interest in the stick market, compared to the rate attached to the bond itself.

“Collective” Investment

If you want to avoid putting all your eggs in the one basket of a particular company’s shares, it is possible instead to spread the risk of your investment by pooling it (with other investors) into a range of different investments. In this case, the pooled investment is managed by a professional fund manager, who makes decisions on the range and types of investment. Such collective schemes fall again, broadly into three different types: unit trusts, investment trusts and Open-ended Investment Companies (OEICs).

Once you have reached this level of investment decision-making, however, the vast range of unit trusts, investment trusts and OEICs available can open up a veritable Pandora’s Box of choices. In order to avoid making potentially very costly mistakes or rash investment decisions, therefore, this is the stage at which if you have not done so before then you should consult an independent financial adviser.

By Ian Sani.

Ok, now you have your money after saving it from the hard work you have done in previous years. So where can you invest your money? That is a million-dollar question. There is no same place for every one to invest. The first two thing you need to know before asking that question are:

• How much is your investing target return
• How much risk are you willing to take

So your answer might be, “I want a ten percent return with minimal risk”. Sounds realistic? Remember that the higher return you want, the riskier it will be. There are many kind of investment out there. The most common place to invest money are to stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, and starting your own business. Each investment has their own characteristic. It’s your job to know their characteristic and match it with your preference.

Bond, mutual funds, and real estate generally have lower risk than stocks and starting your own business. With stocks you can loss your money in minutes. Imagine if you had bought Citibank stock at the start of the year at $7 per share. Guess how much it is now? It’s around $3 at mid July. A 50% drop in half a year. See how you can lose money from stock. The same applies if you own your own business. There are many companies that are closed at it’s first year. Imagine how much money you could loss this way.

If you don’t know anything about investing and want to leave it to the pros, then you can try mutual fund. A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment that pools money from many investors. Although it is professionally managed, it does not means that you won’t lose money from it. Those professional can also loss money, but at least their knowledge is a lot more than you.