Right now I am at the first phase, where investments haven't even begun. I believe the most important thing to do before beginninf is to learn. I'm educating myself by reading, currently from sites on the Internet such as Money Mind from hardwarezone.com. Subsequently I will move on to books that are recommended and on topics that are relevant at this stage.
My expectation of investing is simply to grow my wealth using time. Due to my scholarship, I will probably have excess cash and I plan to use that as my base. The goal is to just grow with the average and not to beat the market, for that would be unnecessary risk that I'm not willing to take as an investor that's just starting out.
My goals? For tangible goals, I hope to have a portfolio size of 200k by the time I am done with my studies. It seems far-fetched, but my future circumstances seem to indicate that this won't be as impossible as it seems for a 24 year old. But it certainly is ambitious. Over the course of 4 years I would only be putting in about 140k, so the rest would have to come from capital growth and reinvestment of dividends. Looking back I may probably laugh at myself, but to the future me I have this to say: Was it that my goal is really impractical, or did I just not work sufficiently hard enough to make it happen? Maybe the joke would be on the future me instead.
My method is simple. As of now I have read a little about the Permanent Portfolio. It seems to match my risk profile and what I am comfortable with, given the lack of knowledge and full understanding of the market at this instance. I hope to follow that, and when my experience and understanding increases, I would like to increase the percentage on equities and to start looking out for individual stocks instead of buying the STI ETF.
I have read about one guy (Dividend Warrior) getting dividends of 1k a month just with a portfolio of slightly less than 200k. If I could get that by the time I start working, my life would look really rosy. It also makes me imagine the possibilities, and the fantastic position I am currently in.
The coming months would be crucial. I need to take concrete actions to push things into motion and get the ball rolling. I would have to read up more to pique my interest and know exactly what I am getting myself into. I need to speak to more people and stand on the shoulders of giants. I need to compound the advantage that I have gained for myself by working hard during my schooling days and choosing this path, and to stay ahead of my peers who are in more prestigious careers.
The wheels have been set in motion. It's time for the snowball to start rolling.
