#THREAD As a new investor, what do you need to look for? How do you start investing? Here are a few tips, ideas and opinions.

#1 Finances - did you pay off your bad debt? If not, get rid of bad debt. It's better to be worthless than to be worth - R 1 000 000 000 000.
Be careful when investing if you have debt, especially in South Africa. The debt will overpower your investments and drain your resources

#2 Do you have an emergency fund in place? If yes, then wonderful - you can invest. If not, head over to this link and learn why you need this in place. https://frugallocal.co.za/2018/12/04/emergency-funds-avoiding-financial-ruin/

#3 once you have money to invest, you need to research and know what you're investing in. You can choose the money machine that suits your fancy - but knowledge is the key.
Don't invest in something you don't know.

#4 You can invest in anything from gold, ETFs, stocks, property, bonds, cash, etc etc.
The principle stays the same - know what you're investing in.
Do your research.
Do your calculations.

#5. Know the difference between investing and savings:
Saving is short term: Less than 2 years.
Investing is a long term thing: more than 10 years.

As an investor, you need to think long term.
As a speculator, you think short term.
Unless you have a degree or similar experience, don't speculate. People lose lots of money on this.

Don't hand your money over to unregistered people.
Don't believe it when people say they will give you 10% per month return on investments.
Everyone wants your money.
Me too. So please send me your money - I will spend it on coffee.

Investing can cost money.
You need to know how much you will spend on fees.
These fees make a huge difference in the long run.

Though personal finance people like me cannot tell you what to invest in, I highly recommend that you learn from us. People like @your_money_blog, @stealthy_wealth, @AndreBothmaTax, @PhumiSkosana and the most awesome @ImcocoMash.
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