The Benefits Of Regular Investment

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When investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.

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The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and is not intended to be, nor does it constitute, any form of personal advice. Investments in a currency other than sterling are exposed to currency exchange risk. Currency exchange rates are constantly changing, which may affect the value of the investment in sterling terms. You could lose money in sterling even if the stock price rises in the currency of origin. Stocks listed on overseas exchanges may be subject to additional dealing and exchange rate charges, and may have other tax implications, and may not provide the same, or any, regulatory protection as in the UK.

We think using an index tracker can take a lot of the worry and stress out of investing. However, you may still be concerned that you might invest at the wrong time.

Tune out the noise

One problem with investing is that you never know what the stock market will do next. Many column inches are devoted to predicting the short-term direction of the market, but it is all just pure speculation. No one knows which direction the market is heading although that doesn’t seem to stop everyone having an opinion (unfortunately).

The best thing to do is ignore all this noise, which we appreciate is easier said than done.

The key thing to appreciate, in our opinion, is that the long-term direction of the market is upwards. You can’t time your entry to perfection; the most important thing is taking part. There’s an old investment saying that’s worth mentioning here — it’s about ‘time in the market’ not ‘timing the market’. Clever, eh?

Pace yourself

An excellent way of pacing your investments is by regular investment of say £25, £50 or £100 a month into an index tracker. Or even more if you like. Pretty much every fund has a regular savings scheme set up these days. Usually the costs are extremely low. Setting up a regular investment is also a good discipline, meaning that you effectively force yourself to invest every month. It’s a good habit to get into.

Many brokers also make it pretty easy to set up regular investments into individual shares, which cost just a fraction of the price of a normal trade.

Likewise, when you finally cash in your investment, the reverse of this strategy makes sense. Rather than taking your money out in one go, you can sell gradually. Of course, you may decide that the stock market is the best place for your money in perpetuity and that you intend to live off the dividends and let your capital grow further.

This article contains general educational content only and does not take into account your personal financial situation. Before investing, your individual circumstances should be considered, and you may need to seek independent financial advice.  

To the best of our knowledge, all information in this article is accurate as of time of posting. In our educational articles, a "top share" is always defined by the largest market cap at the time of last update. On this page, neither the author nor The Motley Fool have chosen a "top share" by personal opinion.

As always, remember that when investing, the value of your investment may rise or fall, and your capital is at risk.