Guest Post – How I Began My Investing Career in 2021 with Wealthsimple Trade

Last year, when the pandemic began in March 2020 and we were all stuck in our homes for quite a while (due to stay-at-home orders or because we were afraid to leave the house), I decided to take a moment and rediscover books. When I was younger, I was always reading, but I lost this hobby due to technology and lack of time. However, being stuck at home with not much to do, I had time to waste and I wanted to learn new things instead of just reading my usual fantasy books, not that fantasy books aren’t fun anymore, but because I felt like I was in a point in my life where I wanted to learn more. I went to see my neighbor to borrow the book that kickstarted my investing career – “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki. 

As a 19-year-old, I didn’t have many expectations when I started this book but when I finished it, it completely changed my view on how to make and grow money in the future. I felt very fortunate to be able to read this book at 19 because I started investing a couple months later (during a global pandemic) after reading many other books on money, personal finance, and investing. As a young millennial, I understood the importance of starting to invest early as compound interest would help grow my money over the long-term. I also understood how to invest intelligently, which is crucial if you want to make money instead of losing money through the years.

Fast forward 2 months later in May, I opened a Wealthsimple Trade account and started putting money automatically into a TFSA (the US equivalent is a Roth IRA) and, since then, I still put money into this account. Every month, I put $200 in this account automatically without having to think about it and I think that’s the key to investing. By putting money automatically, it prevents you from forgetting a month or intentionally skipping a month. Also, I believe that now is the best time to start for me because I do not have big expenses yet. I still live with my parents, so except for my car and cellphone, I don’t have any major expenses. This allows me to invest my money into ETFs, specifically tracking the S&P 500 index. With Wealthsimple, my money is put into equities by professionals; I don’t have to pick my ETFs. I also have another Wealthsimple Trade account where I pick my own stocks, but I do not put money monthly in this account. I only put extra money that I receive from special occasions such as birthdays or holidays. However, if you do not know much about investing and picking your own stocks, I would not recommend it because, more often than not, you will end up losing money as it is more difficult to pick a winning stock. It’s better to start investing in equities that follow the S&P 500. The last thing I recently invested in is Ethereum – a cryptocurrency. Again, I only invest extra cash that I have. To learn more about the different investment tools, you can read check out my blog here.

Why Should You Care about my Investing Career?

This is a question you may be asking yourself right now as you are reading about my investments. Well, I will tell you that, if you start investing early, you may retire earlier. In fact, investing money intelligently is one of the best ways to grow money, and starting early is the best way to ensure that you will end up rich at the end. Now, investing is a journey that requires patience. You won’t get rich overnight. It takes years to grow your portfolio and have enough to live off of that. The goal is not to put huge amounts of money into the stock market and hope to get rich quickly, the goal is to start small, to build confidence and begin your investing career!

I am extremely grateful to be able to write a blog post about my investing start because I think it is extremely important that people are aware of the opportunity that is available to them. I wish more people would read books about personal finance and investing because it truly does open your eyes to the wonders of money. My story is not meant to show off or brag. My story is meant to help you get over the fear of investing! It is meant to help you start investing and to stop putting it off! I was lucky enough to start investing early and I wish that everyone has the same opportunity as me. Take that chance now and start doing some research and read some books. I promise you, it will be worth it in the end!

Author Bio

I am a university student in Kinesiology at McGill University in Canada, and I am passionate about sports. I started my website to help young adults learn more about their health, their fitness, and their wellness. I am in no way a financial advisor, but I wish that people would be more aware about their money and be more conscious about their cash flow. 

Charles-Edouard Jarry (https://wellnessgenz.com)