Disclaimer: I have no idea what I’m doing. So please take whatever I say with a generous serving of salt (#saltbae).
An important step in getting my money game in order: learning how to invest. I’d avoided touching it for so long simply because I never made the time to learn about how it worked.
Hence, a huge thank you to SkilledSmart for hosting an amazing panel to give millennials like me some tips on how to start investing. 😘
It seemed like the consensus was that starting with Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) is the easiest way to get started with investing, even with minimal knowledge.
Since I’m lazy and I didn’t want to put off investing any longer, that’s what I did. It’s supposed to be less risky than buying individual stocks because you’re buying a shit ton of stocks at the same time and spreading your risk.
How I started
Looked up how to find a broker on Google
It came up with too many choices, so I decided not to make things complicated and went with CommBank since I already bank with them
Started a CommSec account
That’s the easy part. As I stared at the screen, I wondered to myself, why the hell is CommSec’s user interface so shitty when CommBank’s online banking interface is so beautiful and intuitive?
That ugly-ass Arial font annoyed the crap out of me. And the usability is so crap that I had to spend a full 2 minutes figuring out how the hell to transfer money over. ANYWAY.
Transferred money from my NetBank account
The numbers on my screen jumped from one account to another in seconds. I guess that’s a benefit of starting a trading account with the bank you already use for everyday accounts.
Went to ‘place an order’
If only it were as easy as ordering coffee. 🙄
Far out, the page confused the crap out of me with all the options. What the hell does the ‘expiry date’ or ‘good for day’ mean? Have no fear, Reddit to the rescue!
Your order may not be matched instantly. Because market conditions change, most people don’t want their orders to last forever. This is why you set an expiry date.
Good for Day just means “expires at the end of today”.
The ‘at limit’ or ‘at market’ option confused me too
I just had to tinker with the numbers until I could get what I wanted.
Order placed
FINALLY! I’m the proud part-owner of god knows how many companies and I think the government owes me money? 😳
The specific breakdown of what I got:
💰 $1,000 in Australian shares (Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF – VAS)
💰 $1,000 in global shares (iShares Global 100 ETF – IOO)
💰 $2,000 in bonds (iShares Core Composite Bond ETF – IAF)
I referenced Stockspot’s list of ETFs because I’m too lazy to do my own research. REMEMBER THE SALT. I swear I’ll do more in-depth research… one day.
How do I feel? Meh. It was even more boring than buying groceries. But hopefully this will set me up for the future. 🤑
What’s next?
Jeez, there’s still a lot I don’t know. I’ll be reading up to:
👉 Figure out what I should’ve figured out before starting… when the hell do I sell these things? 😱 Also, what makes a good ETF?
👉 Figure out how to invest in dividend stocks so I can get regular cash flows
If you have any tips to help a sista out, please let me know!
I would love to know what YOUR investing experience has been – feel free to hit me up! 😉
Cover image from Pexels
