What are the investments available to you?

"Do you know how to grow and protect your wealth?"

When I asked a couple of my friends and clients this question, few could answer me. Some cheekily told me:

"That's why I engaged you as my financial consultant."

And while I appreciate their utmost trust in me, I believe it is vital for everyone to have at least some basic level of financial awareness. Especially as more and more different investing tools and instruments are popping up in the market these days.

So, after some consideration, I decided to put together this series of financial articles for my clients and friends to share about the various essential aspects of personal financial planning.

And from time to time, I will share the information I learn about them and encounter in my line of work.

But before we dive into that, we first need to understand...

What are investments?

Simply put, an investment is a money you entrust to a platform or someone else to make it work for you. The goal is to see its value increase with time.

Some of the most popular types of investments are:

• Stocks

• Bonds

• Mutual funds

• Certificates of deposit (CDs)

• And many more.

They all have their own pros and cons. Still, they will generally be subject to two major categories of risk: market risk and business/credit risk. We'll discuss some of these in more detail in separate posts. For now, let's start with...

What is the stock market?

The stock market is an environment where buyers and sellers can trade securities or stocks of companies for cash through a brokerage firm or bank. This trading process creates opportunities where you can buy shares at a price that suits your budget. At the same time ensures that you pick only the companies whose outlook are promising.

You can purchase these stocks through an agent or directly from the company itself, who will give you a certain number of shares in exchange for your cash. Holding these shares allows you to become part-owner of that business, earning dividends whenever the company makes profits. These dividends may also have other conditions attached where they are given out at certain times or under specific terms.

But that's not all!

Suppose you find any good investment opportunities within the same timeframe. In that case, you may choose to sell these shares off for a higher price than what you paid for them originally.

This means your initial investment has turned into profit!

As with all investments, risks associated with stocks must be considered before making any decisions about how much money to invest and where.

By understanding what these investment opportunities entail and how they work, we can better equip ourselves for success in this competitive marketplace.

In my next post, we'll start exploring each of these financial instruments and the things you should take note of.