Getting Started

A lot of people don’t invest – thinking it’s complicated, or for wealthy people, or just far too much effort. The truth is that the barrier to entry has never been lower. No matter how you want to invest, there’s so many different options out there, it seems silly to not at least have a look…

For myself, I like to have control over my stocks. Partly because I want to make my own choices and partly because I want to learn. And when real money is on the line, I find I learn a lot quicker.

Due to this controlling nature, I use Direct Broking. Previously owned by ANZ, you needed an ANZ account to sign up. Now if you have an ANZ account, its slightly easier. But otherwise, you just need the typical documentation to prove you’re not a drug lord from Columbia, and you’re good to go. Drivers license, proof of address, and only half a drop of blood…

When signing, you’ll be guided through the very easy to follow process. It normally takes 48 hours to get your account all sorted, so its not that bad. The other option that is like Direct Broking is ASB Securities.

The share buying process for these platforms are the same. You have an account that is used to fund your buying. You place an order for shares, and you wait for the order to be filled. This is known as a trade. Simple see! On these platforms, each trade is charged at about $30 up to a certain amount, and then charged at 1.5% of the total if you go over the certain amount. Don’t worry, I think its something stupid like $20,000…

You’ll also have to sign up with a few other places, such as Link Market Services, but you’ll get all that documentation after you have completed your first trade. These are the places that actually hold your shares. So they’re quite important.

If this whole thing sounds way too complicated for you, but you still want to have a say in what and where you invest, there is a fantastic company called Sharesies. And you can even do trades from your phone! It’s getting quite big at the moment, and a lot of people I know have used it with nothing bad to say. I have not used it, so I can’t comment either way, but it looks really cool and I wish I had know about it sooner. Sharesies is also getting US stocks at some point, so you have no excuse not to invest in Tesla! (Please don’t invest in Tesla right now! Way to overpriced and a massive correction is coming IMHO.)

But, if you’d rather have people who are smarter than both of us combined manage your investments, you could always sign up to a Wealth Management company. These guys take your money and use it to make more money. They charge about 1 to 2% of the total profit they make, which gives them motivation to do a stellar job and means you won’t lose your capital.

So far, the best one I have found is Milford Investments. Currently they are managing my Kiwisaver, and doing a great job of it. They also do a lot of other money management stuff, so give them a look to see what they can offer. Also, if you have your Kiwisaver with a bank, it may be time to look at moving it to a company. They typically give you much better returns.

With so many options to choose from, it really comes down to how you want to manage your investments.
Do you want a full hands-on experience, or do you want to set up an automatic payment each month and make all this some else’s problem? Or maybe something in between? Whatever your style, there is something out there to suit you. Investing is not nearly as big and complicated as many believe.

This could be your first step to becoming financially free, it just takes an evening of your time to set up. Once you’re financially free, then you have true wealth, and your future self will thank you.

And now I must put this in for the legal reasons…
I am not a financial advisor. All advice is taken with this in mind. I do not benefit from you using the same platform I do, or by using a different one. I do not have any insider knowledge of any company listed. Everything I will talk about – from the tools to the news – will be as available to me as it is to you. Again: I am not a financial advisor and never will be.