The Evolution of My Investment Journey with Mutual Funds

I started investing in mutual funds when I was a young mother. My friend recommended an advisor to me. She was a retired teacher and we were teachers. We knew her and trusted her to make good decisions for us. When she retired, she recommended another advisor, and we have been with them for over 20 years. I think we have been invested in mutual funds for over 35 years. It is about half of our investments. The other half are in GICs, a type of savings account. Very conservative.

Introduction to Mutual Funds

But that was when people did not know how to invest in the stock market unless you had lots of money and had a stockbroker. Mutual funds allowed us to invest in the stock market with just a small amount of money each month. Of course, there was a fee for that investment. Today, there are so many chances to lose your money in the stock market. But in my humble opinion, a young person should set aside money each month for retirement. Everyone thinks they will work forever, but after 50, the jobs may not be there due to health or other reasons. So, if you start work at 25, you might only have 25 years to plan for the rest of your life. Save money, save lots!!

Personal Investment Experience

I have started investing in mutual funds with Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) since March 2018. As of now, it can't be measured, but I am sure that it will help me gain returns on a longer term. If you want to know where to invest, I tried out this tool with Sharekhan called as Neo advisory Robo. Try it out, it is helpful.

Lessons from My Mutual Fund Journey

Initially, when I invested in mutual funds, I used to watch my valuation every day. Later on, I realized that one should not try to time the market and panic by the short-term ups and downs. Instead, be patient and start SIP to get the benefit of the volatility in the market movements.

My initial investments were in sector mutual funds which invested mostly in the flavor of the day, technology funds. Unfortunately, the market crashed soon thereafter, and tech stocks, along with the NAV of funds investing in them, crashed even more. It took a lot of time for the NAV to recover. This pushed me out from mutual fund investment for quite some time. I started investing again after some time this time avoiding investing in sector funds. I have been extremely happy investing in mutual funds in the last about ten years. So much so that I have totally stopped directly investing in stocks. Funds are a lot less a hassle.

Conclusion

Investing in mutual funds has brought stability and security to my financial life. Though there have been bumps on the road, the lessons learned along the way have been invaluable. I highly recommend that anyone looking to start their investment journey should consider mutual funds as a reliable and low-risk investment option. If you are ready to begin, consider using technology tools like Sharekhan’s Neo advisory Robo to guide you. Remember, consistency and patience are key.