Keys for first-time investors

“By investing wisely, we can diversify our sources of income so that we don’t depend only on our salary, help complement our public pension to ensure a wonderful retirement, and prevent inflation from eating up the money in our checking account,” says Natalia de Santiago. .

“The more time you have to see your investments grow, the less risk you will take and the more time you will give your money to accumulate interest and gain speed. The investor’s life is a lot like planting a garden and waiting, diligently watering it, until its seeds bloom,” he explains.

“You should never ask for a loan (neither from the bank, nor from a relative, friend or acquaintance) to invest. Only the money saved can be invested, because any investment always carries a risk. In fact, the more profitability we want to obtain, the greater risk we will have to run”, highlights this expert.

Who would not like to improve their financial situation? The key, as in most things in life, is not to wish or want something but to know how to make it happen.

“We all can, and should, organize our finances so that our savings do not systematically lose value. The problem is that, when it comes to investing, most of us don’t even know where to start,” says financial expert Natalia de Santiago (http://natdesantiago.com).

There are many questions that arise when a person is about to take their first steps in the world of investments: Can I make a profit with little money? Should you invest everything in real estate or physical assets, or is it preferable to diversify? Is it better an investment fund or bet on cryptocurrencies?

For De Santiago, an engineer by training, a financier by vocation and a specialist in the economic impact of climate change, “the success of any investment will depend on oneself, since investing is also learned, without us needing to find a miraculous investment that make millionaires”.

“To start investing, we don’t have to be rich or spend all day glued to the computer screen. To make our finances shine, to make our money grow and work for us, it is enough to have some savings and learn to manage them with a little prudence, ”she says.

De Santiago has worked in finance in Paris, Madrid and Munich. In 2009 he co-founded MyValue Solutions, a pioneering company in ‘open banking’ technologies (sharing financial information digitally), in 2021 he published his first book, “Invest in you”, and has now just released his second work: “Invest with little bit”.

Natalia De Santiago shares with EFE some key recommendations to invest all or part of our savings, to prevent our money from losing value with inflation, and to live better and more peacefully:

There is no perfect investment for everyone

“One type of investment or another will suit each person depending on their economic situation, the period in which they will need the money and their risk profile, both objective (how much can I invest) and subjective (how much risk can I bear). without losing sleep)”, according to De Santiago.

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He points out that precisely for this, “before contracting an investment, they will do a ‘suitability test’ to offer us only products that fit our profile”.

Advise yourself well instead of imitating your brother-in-law

De Santiago advises against letting yourself be influenced by non-experts or people with little knowledge of the investment world.

“You should not get carried away by influences such as ‘my brother-in-law says that…’, first because brothers-in-law only speak when the markets are doing well and then because the investment that is best for your brother-in-law may not be the one that is best for you. to you,” he warns.

“What’s more, the investment that suits you best today may not be the one that suits you best in a few years,” he points out.

When in doubt, this expert recommends “letting yourself be advised and not being ashamed to ask as many times as necessary, until we understand everything well.”

An investment according to our way of being

“The quantity and diversity of products that are marketed today and that allow minimum contributions of money, from investment funds to cryptocurrencies and micro-investments in a real estate project, is so great that you can always find an option that fits our needs. ”, he points out.

However, to decide which is the investment or combination of investments that suits us, in addition to taking into account the structure of our assets and the time horizon with which we want to invest, it is important to choose investments that we understand well, that are appropriate to our personality and risk toleranceand what we are looking for, whether it be living in peace or releasing adrenaline, stands out.

The first three essential steps

First step. “The first thing is to make sure that our financial health is good enough to start investing,” says De Santiago.

This implies having saved at least six months net salaryan adequate level of debt (that the installments of your loans, including the mortgage and installment payments with cards are not more than 40% of your net income) and be able to save at least 10% of your net income, points.

Second step. “We have to decide how much money we want to invest and, above all, for what term. In other words, when are we going to want to recover it, because depending on that, one type of investment or another will suit us, ”says this expert.

De Santiago advises starting small, with a small amount per month, and investing for the long term. “In other words, invest only the money you won’t need in the next three to five years,” he advises.

Third step. De Santiago recommends comparing. “You don’t have to stick with the first thing that the bank on the corner offers you, but ask for offers from three different banks or managers to see what each one offers you and make sure that we understand well all the terms and conditions and, in particular, the costs,” he says.

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