How To Spend Your Time Building A Profitable Skill – 2024 Guide

Let’s face it: right now, some of us have quite a bit of spare time on our hands. Quickly running out of things to do in a day becomes tiresome.

Instead of doom-scrolling on Twitter all day, why not spend your time doing something worthwhile and learning a new skill that actually you makes some money?

Don’t worry about figuring out what exactly you should spend your time doing – we’ve got you covered on that one too. Listen up!

You may not have noticed, but recently the Internet has gone crazy for stocks.

Over the past couple of weeks, everything from Gamestop to Dogecoin has been all over social media, with plucky stock underdogs claiming victory over the business bigwigs.

Now everyone has at least one friend who’s started trading, and perhaps you yourself were curious about what it takes? It takes some discipline for sure – it’s not exactly rocket science, but you won’t pick it up in a day either.

Allow us to present you with a quick guide to entering the world of stocks, so you aren’t thrown in headfirst and can decide whether it is actually for you.

Mastering The Stocks 101: Top Tips For Getting Started

1. Figure Out What You Want To Invest In

For the most part, your first step here is to set up a separate investment account – this is the easiest way to access stocks to invest. If this sounds tricky, you can seek the help of what’s known as a robo advisor to do all of the legwork for you.

You don’t need a large lump sum to do this – whether you’re starting an account yourself or using a robo advisor, it takes only a little bit of cash

2. Stocks Versus Funds – Know Which Is Which

Okay, if you’ve decided to do it yourself, it isn’t actually that scary. For newbies like yourself (and most investors, really), using the stock market is essentially picking between two types of investment:

Singular Stocks

Wanting to invest in one particular company or business? Simply pick up one or two shares; this is the gentlest way to introduce yourself to trading.

If you want to build yourself what’s known as a portfolio, which you really want to be diverse and made up of multiple stocks. This is doable, but you’ll need to invest quite a bit of time, effort and money.

Stock Mutual Or Exchange-Traded Funds

With mutual funds (also known as equity mutual funds), you as the investor buy tiny bits of numerous stock in one simple purchase.

By investing in one mutual fund or exchange trade fund, you essentially own one share in each of the companies that make it up. You can combine several mutual funds and build yourself quite the portfolio – the more variance, the better!

Which Is Better?

That depends on your budget, but it’s worth noting that mutual funds will not skyrocket in the same way that certain individual stocks have been known to do.

Therefore, one bonus that individual stock investment offers is that cleverly investing in one singular stock can really pay off. That being said… one individual stock rarely a millionaire makes!

3. Decide On Your Budget – And Stick To It

When it comes down to it, you can either invest a couple of dollars in a cheap share, or hundreds, maybe even thousands, into a more expensive stock.

Mutual funds usually have a minimum, typically in the range of around a thousand bucks, whereas picking your own individual stocks costs as much as you want it to.

An exchange traded fund can be a good compromise – you trade like stock, picking them up at share price rather than the cost of a full portfolio.

4. Stay Up To Date – Read Regularly

Your best way of thriving, rather than just surviving, stock market investment, is to keep yourself in the know and stay on top of every single announcement that’s relevant to your portfolio.

Not just that, but you should also be on the lookout for potential future investments. Be prepared to take a risk or two, but don’t go overboard, or put too much money on those risks. Sensible, straightforward and a little bit cunning is the way.

Make sure to stick to reliable, intelligent sources – we highly recommend you take a look at Stockdork.com which is regularly updated with news from the markets, trader education materials, business knowhow and industry updates, from the experts.

5. Know That Stocks Are Not A Get Rich Quick Scheme

A lot of stocks and shares newcomers envisage that joining the market is a little like gambling in Vegas: just show up, throw some money at a guy in a suit and strike it rich. Unfortunately, the stock market is not a get rick quick scheme.

Unfortunately, it’s quite the opposite, and where gambling is based on pure luck (unless it’s been rigged), playing the stocks is all about staying smart and knowing where to invest and how. The golden rule is to take your time!

Yes, you can absolutely invest some cash and get a huge return in a quick period of time, but those kinds of investments are very risky business and can land you in hot water quicker than you can say “jackpot!”

Do not jump into things without researching first: it’s called performing your due diligence people!

You’re risking money, and therefore your financial stability, so ensuring you are clued up and have researched your investment before you buy it is an absolute must. You want to be logically invested, not emotionally – it’s all about being clever.

When there are huge losses at stake, it can be easy to freak out, especially if you’re watching the value of your portfolio sink dramatically – don’t pull the plug immediately, keep your head in the game, and seek advice before making a move.

In a nutshell: stay smart, stay informed, stay sensible and you will surely succeed!