3 Things to Consider Before You Start Investing
Have you been hearing about the importance of having multiple streams of income and wondering how to add one to your portfolio?
Are you thinking about investing—but you’re unsure how?
Do you want to make more money without having to do more work?
If you answered “yes” to all of the above, you’re not alone. Many women in accounting are already juggling their day-to-day responsibilities at their firm or while running their own business, taking care of their children, and handling more than one side-hustle. There’s no time to add anything else to that! But, it’s important to have more than one stream of income (ideally, you’d aim for seven).
One way to make money without having to add anything to your calendar seems a bit scary at first: investing.
With investing, you can create multiple streams of income by doing what you’re already doing. No need to study for a certification, build another business, write a book—nothing!
But, it’s daunting. What if you do something wrong and lose a bunch of money? What if you don’t have enough to invest? What company should you invest in?
It seems like there’s a lot that can go wrong. But according to CPA, best-selling author, and Founder of Wealthy Women Daily, Charlene Rhinehart, investing is as easy as shopping at the mall! Or maybe, shopping online, for modern times.
Over the summer, we had the chance to sit down with Charlene to talk all about her tips and tricks for women in accounting on how to invest wisely. First and foremost, she says that you need to know one thing: you don’t have to have thousands of dollars to invest!
Repeat that a few times out loud. Got it? Good!
Now, there are 3 things you need to start thinking about before you even start investing:
Know your net worth
Get comfortable saving
Learn about investing
To make sure you’re not just investing, but investing wisely, take each of these elements of your investing future into consideration before you start.
Know your net worth
As women in finance, you probably already know what we’re talking about here, but let’s just go over this really quickly.
Net income: how much money you make every year
Net worth: how much money you’re keeping every year
It’s important to distinguish between these two because when you’re evaluating the kinds of companies you want to invest in, you need to evaluate their financial characteristics. Remember, we’re investing wisely. And making a wise investment includes doing your research before making a move.
Part of this research includes not just the companies you’re considering, but yourself. That’s right: before you start investing, you also need to understand yourself