{"id":3786,"date":"2014-04-03T10:11:48","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T15:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=3786"},"modified":"2017-11-19T20:15:28","modified_gmt":"2017-11-20T01:15:28","slug":"rise-and-shine-planning-investment-and-managing-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/?p=3786","title":{"rendered":"Rise and Shine: Planning Investment and Managing Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Figuring<\/a>
Figuring out how to invest for first timers can be intimidating. Image from: freedigitalphotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Investing, whether in stocks, mutual funds, or guaranteed investment certificates, can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. Navigating this mire of phrases, acronyms, and designations is often half the battle \u2013 especially for young people trying to figure out where to park their savings.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what you\u2019re investing in, getting started early is the first part of developing good investing habits, according to Yuryi Zabolotnyuk a finance professor specializing in investments at Carleton University. But he says getting an early start isn\u2019t the only thing that needs to be done.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to know how comfortable you are with risks,\u201d said Zabolotnyuk. \u201cYour investments need to reflect what you\u2019re willing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is something that Khaled Hawari, an entrepreneur and business student, knows well. Hawari runs his own management and con<\/p>\n

sulting group in addition to studying. Checking for financial news has become the first thing that he does in the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrading, without a plan and without committing the time and energy to do it right, is a route to losses,\u201d said Hawari.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessional traders are betting that plenty of suckers are out there, trading in just such a random way, because that creates the losers that allow them to take profits in a zero-sum market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Getting involved with investing early might be a good idea, but finding smart investments can be a challenge. The most important thing about investing is to understand just what you\u2019re getting into.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should never, ever invest in [companies or stocks] you don\u2019t understand fully,\u201d said Zabolotnyuk. \u201cIf you don\u2019t understand what they do, or how, then you shouldn\u2019t deal with them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to be able to explain how an asset generates a profit, preferably in one or two short sentences. If you can’t, you\u2019re gambling, not investing,\u201d added Hawari.<\/p>\n

Getting Started<\/strong>
\nOnce you gather the confidence to commit to investing, there are four questions you need to ask yourself according to Zabolotnyuk.<\/p>\n

\u2022 How long will you be investing for?
\n\u2022 What tax circumstances have an effect on your investments?
\n\u2022 What are your unique circumstances?
\n\u2022 Are you aiming for a short term strategy, or a long term one?<\/p>\n

Diversifying your investments to avoid losing everything is something both Zabolotnyuk and Hawari recommend.<\/p>\n

Active traders manage a higher potential risk, for higher gains. Passive investment deals more with managing stable long term assets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is any chance you might need the money you plan on investing at any time during the next five years, you shouldn’t invest in stocks,\u201d said Hawari.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re just getting started then Hawari recommends setting up a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) and tying it to a mutual fund. Mutual Funds are group investment plans which are used to safely deal in securities.<\/p>\n

Outside Help<\/strong>
\nThose who are entering the market might be tempted to enlist professional investment advice. Although this can help the majority of people ease off the learning curve, it\u2019s generally less of an aid to anyone with a handle on investing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou only ever want to bring in an advisor if they can make you money,\u201d said Zabolotnyuk. \u201cIf he charges you 2% a year, and you make more than that \u2013 good. It\u2019s worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advisors charge the same rate whether they make you money or not, so choosing wisely is important. Whether you choose to use an advisor or not it all comes down to what makes you the most comfortable in your investments and risk taking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Investing, whether in stocks, mutual funds, or guaranteed investment certificates, can be a daunting prospect for the uninitiated. Navigating<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,300],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-personal-finance-2014"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3786"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4513,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions\/4513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/ottawainsight\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}