One year ago today, I opened an account with COL Financial and never looked back. I put money into my account whenever possible. It wasn’t on a regular basis, but I made sure to reach a certain amount before I celebrate my first year as a direct stock market investor. What do you know, I did it!
Somehow, I feel quite accomplished and empowered knowing that I have started taking the journey to financial freedom. I am still far from it, perhaps several years far, but my inner self tells me I’ll get there one day. And so I continue to believe in and work to realize my goal.
The stock market in the past months has been down and sluggish. A bear market, as experts would say. You know what I did during that time? I limited the time I spent checking my stocks portfolio online. I would just take a peek at the end of trading day, and that’s it. I also bought stocks when I had money to “average down.”
Here are some of the things I learned as I continue to traverse the risky world of the Philippine stock market:
1. Never give up. It’s not always a happy day. Expect to see more reds (losses) than greens (gains) especially when the market is down. Nothing lasts forever, anyway. Soon, stock prices will go up once again and things will be better.
2. Look for other investment options. Just like time, diversification is your friend in investing. There are tons of ways to grow your money. You just have to find out for yourself which ones are the best for you. Choose wisely all the time.
3. Invest long term to reduce risks. Don’t be so bothered if you’re losing money on the first year, the succeeding years might just surprise you. As long as you believe in the companies in your stocks portfolio (i.e. their fundamentals are okay), then you have nothing to worry about.
4. Be in the loop. Knowing what’s happening in both local and global business community is very important. You don’t want to lose your money without a fight, do you? As an investor, it’s a must that you are well-informed, unless you are paying other people to do the researching for you. But no, actually, even if you are paying someone to do it for you, you should still have a good grasp of everything concerning your investments.
You may be wondering how I’m doing after a year as an investor. Well, I’m still here. My paper profit (unrealized capital gain) is currently lesser than it used to be last December, but that’s okay. It will recover soon. Call it intuition or pride or secret knowledge or whatever, I just know it will. 😉
Check out my previous posts in this series:
Lessons on Stock Market Investing, Vol. II
Lessons on Stock Market Investing, Vol. I
May you choose happiness always,
Mag one month pa lang ako sa pagiging investor through COL Financial. Medyo hindi ko pa talaga alam ang pasikot sikot dito pero I did my research. Nuod ng tutorial videos, seminar at read ng mga financial blogs like this one. Naniniwala ako na someday or next month magiging green din yung mga nabili kong stocks. Hehe.
Yes, magiging green din sila lahat, wait mo lang. Think positive lang tayo! 🙂
Uy ako one year stock investor na rin by September. I think we really learn more when we actually have money invested. One thing i learned is to be calm even when my portfolio is on the red. Na-shock talaga ako when i see how much i’m losing on paper. But I’m still optimistic that in a few years time they will gain even more.
Lapit ka na rin mag-anniv. Hehe. Tama yan sis, dapat think positive lang tayo palagi. 🙂
Buti ka pa, I wish I started earlier. I am still building our EF. Hopefully this year I can open a UITF na!
It’s never too late to start. At maganda yang ginagawa mo na nagbu-build muna ng EF before investing in anything. Go, sis! 🙂
Really inspiring Edel. I hope next year I could start something like this. I have read that there were days/months or even years that stock market is at its downside but regardless, sooner or later you’ll bounce back! Keep it up Edel. =)
Matutupad yan, Jen. True, sa history ng stock market, mas pataas sya kesa pababa. 🙂
When I started my 401k through my previous job,which is the first time,it’s interesting to see how the figures fluctuate.I wanted to learn more about investing but for now,we’re focusing on getting rid of our debts (hopefully next month!) and aside from this retirement plan I have,I’ll go from there.
Debt elimination is very important. Take your time, Gladys. 🙂