Lessons I learnt as a Newbie
It's been 6 months into my investing journey and I've come to learn 4 lessons which I wish I knew back then. But even now, I still have to remind myself of these instead of buying caught up with the fear of missing out.
Lesson 1: Don't just buy.
I remember the excitement when I saw all the "popular" stocks like Goog, Tesla and Apple. Coupled with popular sentiment that "Stonks only go up", it was easy to get caught up with all the hype. In fact, even during a downturn now, there is still hype about which stocks will withstand the downtrend. As a famous trader said: "You must know what you are buying and why you are buying it."
Lesson 2: Have an investing plan
I remember just thinking about the stocks going up and not what happens if I lose. Looking back now, during this down turn, I am lucky to have my savings to fall back on.
It's very important to have an allocation of how much you want to save, spend on daily expenses and then decide how much you want to invest.
There is also a need to follow a disciplined plan of spending if you want to dollar cost average, never spending more or less. The other need is for savings which are actually tiding me through right now.
Lesson 3: Understanding Macro Conditions
This may be a paradox but knowing what's happening around the world is important. However, between having a disciplined plan to buy and watching out for the macro conditions, well, this is anyone's guess. By understanding no one can time the market, you may need to tweak when you can buy. Balancing lesson 2 and 3 is important, but not as important as staying vested.
Lesson 4: Deciding how long to hold
There's a time to buy and a time to sell. But one should always plan for a timeline. Unlike traders who play it by the ear, investors must plan to hold as long as possible, according to their plan of course.
Conclusion
My general lessons are not impacted much by external factors (such as war or inflation). Even for point 3, it is just an understanding, but I think having an investment plan over the long run is the most important. My current trades are in $DBS GROUP HOLDINGS LTD(D05.SI)$, $Alphabet(GOOGL)$and a little bit of $Grab Holdings(GRAB)$.
These are the lessons I wished I learnt when I first started. And I'm still learning to apply them now.
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
- Yonhuat·2022-06-20TOPSo sorry you got caught by DBS peak. near term outlook might see a down trend. revaluate what ypu hold, cut some losses and channel them to other that will grow faster9Report
- JQC·2022-06-21Thank you for your sharing. Investment is a journey. Full of ups and downs. We will be wiser with resiliency as we grow along the way. [Victory]2Report
- ThunderPat·2022-06-20[Like]May you have a successful journey in investing3Report
- SandDust·2022-06-20I think you miss that that investing about business valuation2Report
- DonnaMay·2022-06-22You can also add: Don't let market sentiment get in the way.1Report
- Maria_yy·2022-06-22Understanding the macro economy is very helpful for our investment.1Report
- BurnellStella·2022-06-22You've got banks and you've got technology. Diversify.1Report
- gme1xxx·2022-06-20nice. good learning for everyone1Report
- 47ebd6a1·2022-06-20I share your thought. [Like]6Report
- Tornerva·2022-06-20Thanks for sharing!!5Report
- 发财 Bobby·2022-06-20lose money = school fee3Report
- hd87·2022-06-20Thanks for sharing. Hope someone can help me like this comment :)4Report
- HL Chua·2022-06-20不要dip5Report
- Maky·2022-06-21Good sharing. We learn as we progress on our investment journey3Report
- Maria_yy·2022-06-21Nice post, it's worth sharing with my friends.3Report
- AdrianTan·2022-06-21Investing is a journey. Congratulations on taking your first step. More lessons to be learnt along the way!1Report
- ensemble·2022-06-20Good share4Report
- MOASS·2022-06-20Can't stop won't stop3Report
- tgll·2022-06-20Great lesson learnt3Report
- LEngLEng·2022-06-20👍🏼 thanks for sharing3Report