First of all, thank you for reading this very first blog post on my foray into the world of investments. It was with a lot of apprehension that I decided to put my savings into the stock market; I am a late 20s guy who was brought up in an environment of limited means, and the only financial education I have gotten so far were those from my parents who emphasized hard work and watching the bank account balance grow. They have never made any investments and feared anything that might erode savings and capital. Having worked for a couple of years and witnessed the lives of my older colleagues, I realized that to tie oneself with only salary for survival is in fact quite risky and a downright dangerous thing to do, and stashing away money will not help in an inflationary environment. I decided that perhaps it is time for me to learn about the big world of investments, and that doing nothing will be at least as imprudent as taking some risks with the (however limited) capital that I have.
My first investment is in iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index (ETF) (NYSEARCA:FXI). Since I know close to zero about analyzing individual stocks, the next best option is to buy ETFs that allows me ownership in a basket of shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has rallied about 19% in 2013 so far, so I am not sure if the stocks are too expensive to buy; at least the margin for error is greater than when the year started. On the other hand, Chinese stocks have not done so well, and investors such as Jim Rogers appear to think that I can make a prudent purchase now, so that is what I did. Furthermore, there seems to be a dividend of 2-3% annually, which is more than what I am now receiving in my money market account. Hopefully it will pan out well. I am going in for the long term with about 30% of my savings for this buy.
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