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Basics >> How Much Money Should You Invest?
Many first time investors think that they should invest all of their
savings. This isnt necessarily true. To determine how much money
you should invest, you must first determine how much you actually
can afford to invest, and what your financial goals are.
First, lets take a look at how much money you can currently afford
to invest. Do you have savings that you can use? If so, great!
However, you dont want to cut yourself short when you tie your
money up in an investment. What were your savings originally for?
It is important to keep three to six months of living expenses
in a readily accessible savings account dont invest that money!
Dont invest any money that you may need to lay your hands on in
a hurry in the future.
So, begin by determining how much of your savings should remain
in your savings account, and how much can be used for investments.
Unless you have funds from another source, such as an inheritance
that youve recently received, this will probably be all that you
currently have to invest.
Next, determine how much you can add to your investments in the
future. If you are employed, you will continue to receive an income,
and you can plan to use a portion of that income to build your
investment portfolio over time. Speak with a qualified financial
planner to set up a budget and determine how much of your future
income you will be able to invest.
With the help of a financial planner, you can be sure that you
are not investing more than you should or less than you should
in order to reach your investment goals.
For many types of investments, a certain initial investment amount
will be required. Hopefully, youve done your research, and you
have found an investment that will prove to be sound. If this
is the case, you probably already know what the required initial
investment is.
If the money that you have available for investments does not
meet the required initial investment, you may have to look at
other investments. Never borrow money to invest, and never use
money that you have not set aside for investing!
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