The myth
Investing can be intimidating at first, and it can take a long time to learn what the terms mean and how to apply the concepts properly.
However, when you understand and can do all of these, you’ll be able to base your investing decisions on the right knowledge. While experience will always be the best teacher, you’re likely to be more capable of managing your own portfolio to achieve your goals.
That’s why some people believe that only newbies let someone else manage their investments.
The reality
When you’re new to investing, there’s nothing wrong with having someone more experienced make the decisions for you, like with managed funds such as Unit Investment Trust Funds or UITFs.
However, continuing this isn’t bad even if you already understand how things work and can figure out the right steps to take to help your money grow.
After all, knowledge is only one of the things you need. You should also have the time and energy to follow the market news, determine how events could affect your investments, and then make the necessary changes to your portfolio.
Sounds like a lot? It is, but there are some people who manage to do it regularly. If you’re not one of them (especially if you aren’t an investment professional), there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll just be outsourcing the decisions to someone whose full-time job is to grow your money.
The verdict: False.
Understanding at least the basics of investing is essential for your journey, and it’ll always be good to know how to manage your portfolio. Still, having someone else do it for you isn’t bad if you don’t have the time or energy to do it, and that’s true for investors of any experience level.
If you keep on investing and diversifying, your portfolio will probably reach the time when having one or more professionals taking care of your various holdings. At that point, handling everything by yourself might be too difficult unless you do it full-time.
Remember also that an investment professional may have a higher chance of making the right decisions. That’s because they can rely on their experience, industry sources, time and undivided attention for analysis and eventual execution.
