Investing can be quite puzzling for some young adults as they know that investing could be one of the effective ways to build wealth, but often, they lack the knowledge on how and when to begin.

Before starting on an investment journey, a key step is to define specific goals based on life’s different stages and needs, and craft a plan.

Getting off to a fresh start

As young adults in their twenties and just entering the workforce, most tend to live paycheck to paycheck as they work towards covering various expenses with median wages. Thus, it is important for young investors to start saving and investing early. The advantage of being young is that they are far from retirement and so have the capacity to invest for growth. It is a time when they have the greater capacity to take on risk for higher return opportunities over a longer time horizon.

Thriving in their forties

By the time most working adults are in their forties, many would have established their careers or started a family. With growing expenses alongside income, they may have to adjust their investment goals according to needs. As they set aside some savings for emergency expenses, they can adjust their portfolio to a more conservative strategy that can provide cushion for the wealth that has been accumulated, while still seeking growth.

Whether investors are in their twenties or forties, it is optimal to keep in mind these three investing principles on an investment journey.

1. Long-term investing

Time can be an investor’s best friend. It is important for investors to start saving and investing early in order to maximise the benefits of compounding. For example, if a young investor allocates HK$3,000 every month for long term saving and investment, and assuming an annualised return rate of 5.5%, there is the potential to grow the investment to HK$1.307 million in 20 years¹.

2. Staying invested

Some investors are often challenged by their emotions and natural biases, and can make ill-timed investment decisions after surrendering to their heightened emotions. Moreover, it can be tough to accurately time a market entry or exit, and frequent trading may risk losing out on opportunities and returns. Investing regularly can help investors take advantage of “dollar cost averaging” while navigating market volatility.

3. Diversification⁺ in investing

No single asset class can be an all-time winner. Investing all funds on a single or a small number of assets could increase concentration risk. Through active investing, investment professionals could employ different strategies to add equities, bonds or other types of assets in a mutual fund portfolio to capture potential opportunities and optimise the benefit of diversification. 

1. Source: Investor and Financial Education Council’s “Financial calculator widgets – Saving and investment calculator”. The calculator does not take into account certain factors such as changes in inflation rate and rate of return. The calculator shows how your savings and/or investments grow with compound interest. The result, calculation and chart are presented as the best estimates for reference and illustrative purposes only and should not be considered as the only source of information when making investment decision. Please consult your investment advisors or financial planners for professional guidance.

+ Diversification does not guarantee investment return and does not eliminate the risk of loss.