Podcast Roundup: Beginner Investor Tips (Episode 5)

Two weeks ago, you asked Golden Equator Wealth’s Director of Investment, Joe, your burning investing questions – and he answered with some awesome investor tips! Here’s a quick roundup of Keep It Simple episode 5, with some of Joe’s best points conflated into this summary.

Is Now a Good Time to Start Investing? (2:25)

• Test the waters with small amounts, with bigger and more secure names.
• The market seems to be on a path to an overly optimistic recovery since the crash in March 2020.
• But so many uncertainties remain. COVID-19 infections, Brexit in Europe, US-China tensions, and civil rights protests in the US.
• Still a vulnerable environment as of right now, but it’s good to get started with your homework and research to get up to speed.
• Always put on the table what you’re comfortable losing, partially.

Advice For Those Just Starting Out (5:50)

• Start with equity: stocks and indices pertaining to the US, Singapore and Hong Kong
• Start with names you’re already familiar with: Apple, Google, Alibaba, Goldman Sachs, McDonald’s, Coca Cola, DBS, OCBC, UOB, Keppel Corp.
• Explore indices like the S&P 500, the Straits Times Index via Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

Passive Index Investing: Yay or Nay? (7:30)

• You’ll achieve great diversification for cheap management fees this way.
• It’s convenient. You don’t have to bother when to buy low, sell high.
  Passive index investing can be the base layer for people’s portfolios.
• Volatility is relatively low using this investing method.
• This can serve as a safety net for your investments, but if that’s all you’re doing, you won’t learn much as an investor beyond a certain point.

Robo Advisors: Yay or Nay? (9:45)

• Gives you a fuss-free experience.
• Great for market updates and forecasts.
• Useful when it comes to educating yourself and gaining insights into more specialised industries/markets.
• But doing it yourself is still recommended so you can get the hang of these processes and get a sense for fees and service charges, after which you can jump into robo advisors.

How to Scrutinise Stocks (14:25)

• Whichever stock or company is being evaluated, start with the mentality of a skeptic. Why wouldn’t you touch this company? Question it, but not overbearingly so.
• Look at the premise of the company: is it over- or under-valued?
  How healthy is its balance sheet?
• How well-managed is the company? If a company is managed poorly or there’s fraudulent activity, the stock and the company will fail.

Want to hear more? Head on over to Episode 5 of Keep It Simple to hear the rest, including our audience Q&A segment at the end. Until next time!