Investing for the masses.

Investing is an enigma to most people. In general, we get how it works, you put money into shares and hope you get more back then you put in. However there’s a real ‘get rich’ mentality whereby the general population sees the high profile bankers and everyone attached to the money industries as super rich and there’s a perception of lots of cash, and they dream of making it big like they have.

This kind of mentality whereby you would invest of you could get millions but not if you could get £50 is a barrier to entry, I believe, for many. I have been a ‘Novice Investor’ now for almost ten years. The reason I am still a novice is that it takes a lot of time to understand money, especially the money markets, but that’s not to say I haven’t learned a thing or two, or made a bob or two, in the time.

How much is a guitar lesson? £150 for 6 weeks (I looked it up) If I paid that, would I expect to be onstage with a band playing for a living at the end of 6 weeks – most likely not. If I took art classes, would I be next to Hirst in earnings within a week or two? Doubtful. Not to say it can’t happen but it’s not a controllable thing, it would be vast amounts of luck and for the one person it did happen for, there would be millions it didn’t happen for.

Why should Investing be any different? If I start on my own picking shares and ‘Investing’ odds are, with knowledge, time and perseverance I can be good at it. Would I hit gold first time and retire –  I’d have to say the odds are pretty high that it’s not going to happen. However unlikely, as a Novice Investor I have friends approach me all the time as they want to talk about money and want to invest. They get a little frustrated when I say there’s no get rich quick and they will have to learn how to invest. They cite shares that go up 10x quickly, and I refer them to the psychology of the National Lottery. You hear about a winner a week, which gives the perception ‘it could be you’ but they don’t mention the 18 million losers. For every share that is a ten-bagger there’s plenty that fail.

What’s the solution?

Well I can’t tell you what your solution is only what mine was and if you agree, then it might be your solution too.

I found a different way, I learned to Invest through an Investment Newsletter. The HindeSight Dividend letter delivers me an actionable newsletter every month alongside buy and sell alerts. I read the letter to learn about investing as it’s full of good information, and in the meantime I add £500 into the share recommendations, buying on the email alert and selling on the alert as well. The low cost of the yearly subscription means I cover the costs easily within then year, if not sooner.

I am going to be writing a regular blog on Novice Investing so bookmark me and if nothing else, try the Dividend Letter – for FREE whenever you think you’re ready to invest.

Oh, and if you haven’t set up a trading account as yet I use Interactive Investor and find them to be useful for the private Investor – have a look and if you want to use them, you can get a free £30 trading commission by using this code -D9C684E0 – in the promotion field when opening a Share and Fund or ISA account (terms apply).