Investing as ‘easy as buying boots’, says investment fund chief
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Buying stocks is as easy as buying a pair of shoes online.
That’s according to Alva Devoy, the managing director of active fund manager Fidelity Australia, who said technology had made it possible for absolute beginners to dip their toes into the stock market.
Speaking to Yahoo Finance Women's Wealth Editor Lucy Dean at the Women’s Money Money Movement Wealth and Wellbeing breakfast, Devoy encouraged women to take the first step and “just sign up for an online trading account”.
“I would say every woman in this woman has bought something off The Iconic? Right? Seriously, it is as easy as buying a pair of boots on the Iconic,” she said.
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Once the account is set up, Devoy acknowledged that people faced a huge number of choices when it comes to what companies to invest in.
But there are resources available online that can help you with this, she added.
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One way to go about picking investments is to look at “slow emerging” trends like demographics. One example is the ageing population, as well as medicines and technologies being developed around this, like technology that may help the elderly, or robotics in workforces.
Another long-term trend gaining momentum is sustainable investing, Devoy added, as people become more environmentally conscious.
Speaking alongside Devoy, Burman Invest chief investment officer Julia Lee said it was important to start investing sooner rather than later because of the idea of compounding.
“The more time you spend investing, the more your money will work for you,” Lee said.
$10,000 invested today at a yearly return rate of 8 per cent would see that money become more than $20,000 in 10 years’ time.
But in 20 years’ time, the initial $10,000 investment would be worth more than $50,000, and in 50 years’ time, the sum would be worth more than $50,000.
“As you can see as you spend more time, your money grows a lot more.”
This would be even more evident through regular contributions of $100 a month.
“That $10,000 with $100 a month thrown in, in 50 years’ time, that’s worth more than $1.3 million dollars.
“So I think the key is start as soon as you can, do it regularly, [and] it doesn’t have to be a huge amount.
“The amount of time you spend invested is a powerful way to be able to build wealth.”
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