WEBVTT - Investing Portfolios: Start Small, Think Big 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:05.130 Hello, I'm Iona Bain, and welcome to A Little Bit 0:00:05.130 --> 0:00:08.160 Richer, brought to you by L& G. Now, with so 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:10.890 many different options available, it can be tricky to know 0:00:10.890 --> 0:00:14.100 where to start when building your investment portfolio, but no 0:00:14.100 --> 0:00:17.310 matter how much you have to invest, it's important to 0:00:17.310 --> 0:00:19.590 get the basics right, so you can build good habits 0:00:19.739 --> 0:00:22.350 and grow your money. So today, we're looking at how 0:00:22.350 --> 0:00:25.919 you might start investing beyond your pension savings, so you 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.190 can build a portfolio your future self will thank you 0:00:29.190 --> 0:00:31.950 for. And we couldn't think of anyone better to join 0:00:31.950 --> 0:00:36.690 us today than Mr. MoneyJar himself, Rotimi Merriman- Johnson. He's 0:00:36.690 --> 0:00:40.710 a financial advisor and award- winning content creator who's been 0:00:40.710 --> 0:00:44.519 featured on the BBC, the Financial Times, ITV News, and 0:00:44.520 --> 0:00:47.820 Sky News. Rotimi is an ambassador of the UK charity 0:00:47.850 --> 0:00:51.629 National Numeracy, and he hosts his own financial podcast, The 0:00:51.630 --> 0:00:54.810 Mr. MoneyJar Show. Welcome, Rotimi. 0:00:54.870 --> 0:00:56.520 Thanks very much for having me, Iona. 0:00:56.610 --> 0:01:00.930 Before we start investing, should we have a cushion? And 0:01:00.930 --> 0:01:06.300 if so, how much should we have in easily accessible savings? 0:01:06.360 --> 0:01:10.709 Yeah. So the standard advice around emergency funds is that 0:01:10.709 --> 0:01:13.200 you should have three to six months' worth of living 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.649 expenses tucked away. We've had a lot of inflation in 0:01:16.650 --> 0:01:19.200 the last few years. The cost of living is quite 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.900 high. Six months represents quite a lot of money for 0:01:21.900 --> 0:01:25.318 people. So when I speak to people, I say, " Try 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.500 and have, as a starting point, one month's worth of 0:01:28.500 --> 0:01:31.080 expenses tucked away." And I try not to give a 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.690 fixed sum, because that depends on the time and the 0:01:33.690 --> 0:01:37.080 place. But just imagine, if you had one month's worth 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:40.920 of expenses tucked away, just the psychological ease that you 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.149 would feel and the financial resilience you would have. One 0:01:45.150 --> 0:01:48.330 month's of living expenses, put it in an easy access 0:01:48.330 --> 0:01:51.720 savings account, and then anything over and above that you 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:54.030 can begin to invest, if you so wish. 0:01:54.300 --> 0:01:58.260 And why should people have that money in easily accessible 0:01:58.260 --> 0:02:01.950 savings? Why couldn't people just rely on the money that 0:02:01.950 --> 0:02:03.960 they've invested in the stock market and pull that out 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:04.590 at any time? 0:02:05.070 --> 0:02:08.340 Right. So it's because, as we know with investing, the 0:02:08.340 --> 0:02:12.899 value of investments can rise as well as fall. And 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.370 if you don't have that emergency fund set aside and 0:02:17.430 --> 0:02:20.339 all of your money is invested, and the stock market 0:02:20.340 --> 0:02:23.430 takes a tumble, as it has done in recent times, 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.820 then you might have to sell your investments at a 0:02:26.820 --> 0:02:30.360 loss to access your money. So that's why we keep 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:34.110 a portion of our money in emergency savings, and then 0:02:34.110 --> 0:02:36.030 we invest the surplus. 0:02:36.060 --> 0:02:40.200 Mm- hmm. So it's not about choosing whether to save 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.300 or invest. In a sense, we've all got to be 0:02:42.300 --> 0:02:44.071 both team saving and team investing. 0:02:44.070 --> 0:02:47.460 Yeah. The saving bit is for short- term future you, 0:02:47.460 --> 0:02:49.830 and the investing bit is for long- term future you, 0:02:49.830 --> 0:02:51.480 like years and years into the future. 0:02:51.660 --> 0:02:55.650 So let's assume therefore that somebody has got that foundation 0:02:55.650 --> 0:02:59.580 in place and they're looking to start investing. Where should 0:02:59.580 --> 0:03:00.750 they begin? 0:03:00.900 --> 0:03:04.440 So there's three simple steps when it comes to investing. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.610 You need to pick an investing platform, sometimes called a 0:03:08.610 --> 0:03:13.109 broker. You need to pick your investment account or accounts. 0:03:13.380 --> 0:03:15.630 And then you need to decide what the money is 0:03:15.630 --> 0:03:19.139 going to be invested in. So that's the basics of 0:03:19.169 --> 0:03:21.990 it. Now, when it comes to signing up to investment 0:03:21.990 --> 0:03:25.500 platform, this is a very, very similar process to opening 0:03:25.500 --> 0:03:27.990 a bank account online. You then need to nominate a 0:03:27.990 --> 0:03:30.960 bank account that you want to then use to add 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.110 money to that platform. And you can typically add money 0:03:34.110 --> 0:03:37.440 in a couple of ways, either through lump sums or 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.890 through monthly savings. And the lump sum amounts tend to 0:03:40.890 --> 0:03:44.310 be slightly higher than the monthly savings amounts. Some platforms 0:03:44.310 --> 0:03:47.880 will let you do monthly savings from as little as £ 25 a month, for example. 0:03:48.540 --> 0:03:52.650 That sounds like a really achievable, realistic way to start 0:03:52.650 --> 0:03:57.630 investing. And also, can there be advantages in drip feeding that 0:03:57.630 --> 0:03:59.850 money into the stock market on a regular basis? 0:04:00.090 --> 0:04:03.750 Yes. So there is a temptation to do what's called 0:04:03.750 --> 0:04:06.540 time the market. Try and buy at the right time, try and sell at 0:04:07.260 --> 0:04:11.430 the right time. If you instead just decide to invest 0:04:11.580 --> 0:04:14.760 what you can afford every single month for the long 0:04:14.760 --> 0:04:17.610 term, then this removes the temptation to time the market, 0:04:17.850 --> 0:04:20.850 it reduces some of the anxiety around prices going up 0:04:20.850 --> 0:04:22.620 and down, and we're doing it so that we can 0:04:22.620 --> 0:04:25.110 build our wealth at a point in the future. 0:04:25.529 --> 0:04:27.779 You've got to take a step back and just trust 0:04:27.779 --> 0:04:28.440 in the process. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:28.740 Yeah. 0:04:28.890 --> 0:04:33.240 Yeah. So on the one hand, you can buy shares in individual 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.060 companies, as you were saying before, and that's ultimately what 0:04:36.060 --> 0:04:39.270 we are doing when we're investing. But we don't have 0:04:39.270 --> 0:04:43.200 to do that ourselves necessarily, and therefore deal with all 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.419 those issues that can come along with that. We can 0:04:45.420 --> 0:04:49.320 also invest in funds. Just explain what the difference is 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:53.640 between investing in companies on an individual basis versus investing 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:54.089 in funds. 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:57.180 Yeah. So you've signed up to your platform, and then 0:04:57.300 --> 0:05:00.089 you'll need to open an investing account within that platform. 0:05:00.510 --> 0:05:04.860 So investing platforms will typically offer a general investment account. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:07.950 With this, you can put in as much money as 0:05:07.950 --> 0:05:10.740 you like, and then you can invest that money. So 0:05:10.800 --> 0:05:14.279 there's no annual limit, but no tax protection. Then you've 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.099 got stocks and shares ISAs, one of the four ISA 0:05:17.100 --> 0:05:20.370 types. You can put in up to £ 20,000 per tax 0:05:20.370 --> 0:05:22.770 year into a stocks and shares ISA, and of the 0:05:22.770 --> 0:05:24.960 money that you put in, any gains that you get 0:05:24.990 --> 0:05:27.570 on your investments or any dividends that you receive are 0:05:27.570 --> 0:05:31.080 completely tax- free. And this becomes especially powerful once you 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.779 begin to really tap into compounding and get to those 0:05:33.779 --> 0:05:37.501 larger investment sizes. SIPPs are another type of investment account. 0:05:37.501 --> 0:05:39.000 What does that stand for? 0:05:39.060 --> 0:05:43.349 SIPP stands for self- invested personal pension. And not a lot of people 0:05:43.350 --> 0:05:45.930 realize this, but a workplace pension is a type of 0:05:45.930 --> 0:05:48.810 private pension, but you can open a pension of your 0:05:48.810 --> 0:05:50.460 own, and there's no actual limit to the number of 0:05:50.460 --> 0:05:53.099 pension accounts you can open and contribute to in a 0:05:53.100 --> 0:05:57.390 tax year. Self- invested personal pensions have their own annual 0:05:57.390 --> 0:06:01.320 limit of £ 60,000 per tax year, and again, that money is 0:06:01.710 --> 0:06:04.920 sheltered from tax, and you get what's called tax relief 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.860 on your contributions, which is where the government adds in 0:06:08.190 --> 0:06:08.820 extra money. 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:10.980 Mm- hmm. And it also depends on your goal. If you're 0:06:10.980 --> 0:06:15.150 wanting to enhance your retirement income, SIPP could be worth considering. 0:06:15.180 --> 0:06:16.770 Or if you're self- employed. Yeah. 0:06:16.770 --> 0:06:18.750 Indeed, because you don't have your workplace pension. 0:06:18.750 --> 0:06:19.260 Exactly. 0:06:19.740 --> 0:06:23.880 Absolutely. And then when it comes to those differences between 0:06:24.210 --> 0:06:27.839 investing in funds and investing in individual shares, explain what 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:29.549 the pros and cons are respectively. 0:06:30.300 --> 0:06:33.839 Yes, yes. So you can invest in stocks, which is when 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:39.390 you purchase ownership in a company, so shares in Google 0:06:39.510 --> 0:06:43.050 for example. The thing with purchasing individual stocks is your 0:06:43.050 --> 0:06:47.010 investment performance is tied to just that one company, and 0:06:47.010 --> 0:06:50.580 it's a more active way of investing. So if you 0:06:50.580 --> 0:06:53.940 pick the right stock, then you can do really well 0:06:53.970 --> 0:06:56.850 off the back of it potentially, but it also means 0:06:56.850 --> 0:06:59.370 that if the company doesn't do so well, your investment 0:06:59.370 --> 0:07:03.000 can go to zero. So what some people do is 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.940 they invest in what are called funds, which is where 0:07:05.970 --> 0:07:10.200 you give your money to an investment firm who's buying 0:07:10.350 --> 0:07:14.550 shares on their end, but they've basically selected a group 0:07:14.550 --> 0:07:18.180 of shares which they think are either going to outperform 0:07:18.180 --> 0:07:22.200 the market or target a particular sector, like tech or 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.610 clean energy. And the performance of your investment will be the 0:07:26.610 --> 0:07:29.190 average of how all the companies in that fund does. 0:07:29.460 --> 0:07:32.910 Then when it comes to funds, there are actively managed 0:07:32.910 --> 0:07:36.630 funds, which is where a selection process has gone on, 0:07:36.750 --> 0:07:39.660 and then there are index funds or tracker funds, which 0:07:39.660 --> 0:07:43.200 just try to replicate what the market does. And index 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:45.900 or tracker funds are particularly popular with people because they're 0:07:45.900 --> 0:07:49.560 very cheap, and they're not actively managed, and you can 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.190 buy indexes that track the UK stock market, the US 0:07:53.190 --> 0:07:55.230 stock market, or even the global stock market. 0:07:55.290 --> 0:07:58.050 I mean, buying and selling shares has become a lot 0:07:58.050 --> 0:08:01.110 more accessible and a lot more popular in recent times, 0:08:01.110 --> 0:08:04.290 which on the one hand is something I assume that 0:08:04.290 --> 0:08:06.900 you'd be quite encouraged to see, but there can be 0:08:06.900 --> 0:08:09.780 downsides to that, can't there? Because you can get involved 0:08:09.780 --> 0:08:12.900 and jump in at the deep end but not necessarily know 0:08:12.900 --> 0:08:15.990 that much about what you're doing. What would your advice 0:08:15.990 --> 0:08:18.450 be for anyone who is tempted to get out there 0:08:18.450 --> 0:08:21.270 and start buying and selling shares, and might be quite gung- 0:08:21.270 --> 0:08:24.570 ho about it, and maybe need to take a step 0:08:24.570 --> 0:08:26.190 back and assess what the risks are? 0:08:26.460 --> 0:08:29.340 Yeah. If you want to invest, take an amount of 0:08:29.340 --> 0:08:32.699 money that you don't need, invest it, and just use 0:08:32.700 --> 0:08:35.729 that to see what happens. Use it to get used to 0:08:35.730 --> 0:08:38.699 the buying and selling. And this is why it's good 0:08:38.700 --> 0:08:42.300 that a lot of investing platforms have quite low minimums 0:08:42.300 --> 0:08:44.790 when it comes to putting money into the platform. You 0:08:44.790 --> 0:08:47.790 can invest it, and it's almost like you're learning the buying 0:08:47.790 --> 0:08:51.809 and selling process. You're getting used to seeing your money 0:08:51.809 --> 0:08:54.510 go up and down in value, and you're building your 0:08:54.510 --> 0:08:56.790 confidence whilst not risking it all. 0:08:56.969 --> 0:09:00.660 So if in doubt, start small, and then work up from- 0:09:00.660 --> 0:09:01.141 And then build. Yeah. 0:09:01.141 --> 0:09:05.640 Yeah. Absolutely. What's a good rule of thumb for diversifying 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:10.260 your investments, and why does diversification matter so much when 0:09:10.260 --> 0:09:11.220 it comes to investing? 0:09:11.370 --> 0:09:15.870 So diversification in simple terms means not putting all your 0:09:15.870 --> 0:09:18.390 eggs in one basket. And the reason why we do 0:09:18.390 --> 0:09:24.660 this is because different companies will go through different cycles 0:09:24.809 --> 0:09:28.230 and will perform differently at different times, and rather than 0:09:28.230 --> 0:09:31.439 have a scenario where you're just invested into one company 0:09:31.710 --> 0:09:34.050 and you're hoping that that company does well, you build 0:09:34.050 --> 0:09:36.809 what's called a portfolio of companies. You can do this 0:09:36.809 --> 0:09:41.370 yourself, or you can use a fund. And the performance 0:09:41.370 --> 0:09:45.270 of your investments will depend on how a selection of 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:49.770 companies does. So it helps with your investment performance, and 0:09:49.890 --> 0:09:52.829 again, it helps from a psychological perspective of, you're not 0:09:52.830 --> 0:09:55.469 relying on just one company to deliver your returns for 0:09:55.470 --> 0:09:58.590 you. If you're creating a portfolio for yourself, as some 0:09:58.590 --> 0:10:01.829 people do, it will mean that you'll need to understand 0:10:01.860 --> 0:10:04.440 each individual company and why you're putting them into your 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:07.950 portfolio. If you're a beginner investor or you're not interested 0:10:07.950 --> 0:10:11.790 in picking stocks, you can just buy units in a 0:10:11.790 --> 0:10:16.200 fund, and that's another way of diversifying. So to put 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.900 it in context, if you were using an index fund 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:23.040 that tracked the UK stock market, the FTSE 100, you would have 0:10:23.070 --> 0:10:25.980 100 companies in that fund. So for your money to 0:10:25.980 --> 0:10:29.970 go to zero, it would require 100 companies to go 0:10:29.970 --> 0:10:32.760 to zero, which I think if that's happened, we have 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:33.809 bigger problems to worry about. 0:10:33.810 --> 0:10:34.470 Yes. Yes. 0:10:34.500 --> 0:10:37.110 If you're investing in the US, you can buy an 0:10:37.110 --> 0:10:40.650 index which tracks the biggest 500 companies in the US. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.290 Again, that's diversification there. And then if you invest in 0:10:43.290 --> 0:10:46.829 a global fund, which is what I personally do, then 0:10:46.890 --> 0:10:50.460 that could contain hundreds or even thousands of companies from 0:10:50.460 --> 0:10:53.820 all over the world. And in a global fund, the 0:10:53.820 --> 0:10:57.870 weighting of the different countries will follow the size of 0:10:57.870 --> 0:10:59.010 the global stock market. 0:10:59.070 --> 0:11:02.160 We've spoken about how some people might be quite happy 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.459 to jump in and get started, but there could be 0:11:05.460 --> 0:11:08.610 lots of people for whom the prospect of losing money 0:11:08.610 --> 0:11:10.709 is a very scary one. So how do we get 0:11:10.710 --> 0:11:11.160 over that fear? 0:11:11.550 --> 0:11:14.880 It's a very legitimate fear. And look, we're not taught 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:16.860 about this stuff in school. You may or may not 0:11:16.860 --> 0:11:19.110 have someone at home who can teach you this stuff. 0:11:19.110 --> 0:11:20.729 But what we are taught to do is to buy 0:11:20.730 --> 0:11:23.520 things, which shops to go to. You know the right 0:11:23.520 --> 0:11:26.040 prices to buy things at. But when it comes to 0:11:26.040 --> 0:11:28.710 investing, or perhaps even saving, we don't have that same 0:11:28.710 --> 0:11:30.929 knowledge. And that's where I think the fear comes from, 0:11:30.990 --> 0:11:34.230 I think comes from a lack of experience and of 0:11:34.230 --> 0:11:37.050 expectation of what's going to happen. 0:11:37.110 --> 0:11:39.750 And also because we have to delay gratification. We're saving 0:11:39.750 --> 0:11:42.210 and investing, we have to wait to get those results. 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.300 Yeah, exactly. But there's a couple things I would say 0:11:45.300 --> 0:11:49.001 to people. If you are one of the 30 million (inaudible) 0:11:49.001 --> 0:11:53.309 employees in the UK, you're investing already. You're investing 0:11:53.340 --> 0:11:55.650 into your workplace pension. That money is not held in 0:11:55.650 --> 0:11:58.439 cash, that money is being invested. You're paying into it 0:11:58.440 --> 0:12:02.250 month in, month out. And as a result, pension wealth 0:12:02.370 --> 0:12:04.650 is the biggest store of wealth in the UK, and 0:12:04.650 --> 0:12:07.260 it's just from everyone working, paying into their pensions every 0:12:07.260 --> 0:12:10.740 month. So you're already doing it, albeit behind the scenes. 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.309 When it comes to investing your money in, say, a 0:12:14.309 --> 0:12:16.709 stocks and shares ISA for example, you can use a 0:12:16.710 --> 0:12:20.490 very similar principle of taking what you can afford, investing 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:24.900 regularly, and doing it for the long term. Now, there's 0:12:24.900 --> 0:12:29.819 no such thing as a 100% risk- free investment, but we 0:12:29.820 --> 0:12:33.750 must remember the distinction between the value of our investments 0:12:33.750 --> 0:12:37.410 going down and losing money. If you invest your money, 0:12:37.500 --> 0:12:40.380 the value will go up and down, but you do 0:12:40.380 --> 0:12:44.220 not lose or gain money until you sell. Again, that's 0:12:44.220 --> 0:12:46.350 why we do it for the long term. If we 0:12:46.350 --> 0:12:48.929 do it for the long term and we don't need to 0:12:48.929 --> 0:12:52.080 sell our investments, we can wait for the market to 0:12:52.110 --> 0:12:55.260 recover, essentially. And if you look at the stock market 0:12:55.260 --> 0:13:00.990 chart for the FTSE 100, the S&P 500, for example, you'll see that it trends 0:13:00.990 --> 0:13:03.059 upwards, but it's not in a straight line. 0:13:03.179 --> 0:13:06.360 What would your advice be to anyone who is seeing 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.570 all that turmoil out there and is thinking, " Actually, I'm 0:13:09.570 --> 0:13:11.580 not sure if this is the right time to be invested"? 0:13:11.670 --> 0:13:16.110 Yeah. Isn't it interesting how someone can say something, and 0:13:16.110 --> 0:13:19.650 then the value of a company will drop, even though 0:13:19.710 --> 0:13:22.890 the on- the- ground reality of that company has not changed? 0:13:23.070 --> 0:13:23.130 Yeah. 0:13:23.790 --> 0:13:27.689 So when it comes to how we value companies, there's 0:13:27.690 --> 0:13:31.199 almost the book value of that company, but then there's 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.800 this added value on top based upon what people think 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.270 is going to happen. They'll then sell those stocks, and 0:13:39.270 --> 0:13:42.449 then that will cause the value to fall. Those changes 0:13:42.450 --> 0:13:45.449 in valuation happen in the short term all the time, 0:13:45.510 --> 0:13:49.979 all day, every day. They're playing one game, but you're 0:13:49.980 --> 0:13:52.980 playing a different game, which is to ignore the noise 0:13:53.100 --> 0:13:55.500 and to invest for long term. So this is why I say 0:13:55.500 --> 0:13:59.459 the volatility is going to happen, but if you can stay the 0:13:59.460 --> 0:14:02.400 course, then it's not something that you need to worry about. 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:06.840 What about these options that people might see when they 0:14:06.929 --> 0:14:09.300 start their investing journey that seem a little bit more 0:14:09.300 --> 0:14:15.720 exotic, like crypto, commodities, gold, forex trading? What would your 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:18.059 advice be around those options? 0:14:18.270 --> 0:14:22.800 There's a very important investing principle, which was shared by 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.830 Warren Buffett, held by many to be the best investor 0:14:25.830 --> 0:14:28.560 of all time. And his principle is to invest in 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:31.770 what you understand. That's what I would say to people. Do 0:14:31.770 --> 0:14:35.190 you understand what you're investing in? Do you understand, if 0:14:35.190 --> 0:14:37.470 the price has gone down or gone up, why it's 0:14:37.470 --> 0:14:40.770 gone down or gone up? Do you understand the trends, 0:14:40.770 --> 0:14:46.020 the cycles? If you don't, then that's when the anxiety 0:14:46.020 --> 0:14:48.840 and the worry sets in. If you've seen something online, 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:50.940 you've gone, " I'm going to invest in that because I've 0:14:51.180 --> 0:14:53.880 someone talking about it," you don't know why they've bought 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:56.430 it, or if they've even bought it, you copy them, 0:14:56.820 --> 0:15:00.300 and then it's now gone down 30%, and you're worried. 0:15:00.570 --> 0:15:03.060 So I would just say, stick to what you understand, 0:15:03.330 --> 0:15:05.430 and continually learn and build upon your knowledge. 0:15:05.610 --> 0:15:08.940 And also perhaps be wary of anything that looks like 0:15:08.940 --> 0:15:12.359 a shortcut or a get rich quick scheme, because there 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:14.550 are no shortcuts when it comes to investing. It's long- 0:15:14.550 --> 0:15:15.750 term, by its very nature. 0:15:15.810 --> 0:15:19.110 Yeah. It's a long- term thing, one. Two, people who are 0:15:19.140 --> 0:15:22.020 making money and investing are not on the internet talking 0:15:22.020 --> 0:15:24.990 about their strategies. Trust me. They're just quietly making money 0:15:25.020 --> 0:15:27.330 from it. They're not going to come online to tell 0:15:27.330 --> 0:15:29.520 you how to 10x your money in a month. 0:15:29.730 --> 0:15:31.050 Yeah, because they're already doing fine. 0:15:31.110 --> 0:15:31.290 Yeah. 0:15:32.220 --> 0:15:37.020 Are there any investing principles that we ought to really 0:15:37.020 --> 0:15:40.680 keep in mind as we start this journey, and try 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.450 to stick with investing for the long term? 0:15:42.510 --> 0:15:46.680 Diversification, trying not to time the market, so trying not 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.260 to get in and get out, and investing in what 0:15:49.260 --> 0:15:52.080 you understand. I think if you stick to these four 0:15:52.080 --> 0:15:54.900 principles, the quality of your decision- making is going to 0:15:54.900 --> 0:15:55.230 go up. 0:15:55.710 --> 0:15:58.050 And if there are three things that you would want 0:15:58.050 --> 0:16:01.860 to serve as the starting point for people as they 0:16:01.950 --> 0:16:04.290 go about this, what would those three things be? 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:09.000 Investing's for everyone. It's never been easier or more accessible 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:13.170 for people, so I wouldn't want people to be scared 0:16:13.170 --> 0:16:15.420 of it, if you use the investing principles we've spoken 0:16:15.420 --> 0:16:17.760 about. You don't need to have loads and loads of 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.580 money to invest. In fact, you can start with small 0:16:20.580 --> 0:16:25.140 sums, and because of compounding, the earlier you start, the 0:16:25.530 --> 0:16:29.910 longer your money has to grow. And it doesn't need 0:16:29.910 --> 0:16:35.130 to be super complicated. You get great results by investing 0:16:35.130 --> 0:16:38.010 consistently for the long term in a diversified way. 0:16:38.340 --> 0:16:40.560 So in a sense, once you've actually just taken that 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.380 decision, you've done the hard bit, in a way. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:43.530 Yeah. 0:16:43.530 --> 0:16:45.150 You then just have to wait to see- 0:16:45.150 --> 0:16:46.980 The hard bit is leaving it alone. Yeah. 0:16:47.070 --> 0:16:50.400 Yes. That is all fantastic advice. Thank you so much, Rotimi. 0:16:51.060 --> 0:16:51.181 Thank you for having me. 0:16:51.181 --> 0:16:56.100 Well, Rotimi, I think we're feeling a lot more empowered 0:16:56.100 --> 0:16:58.470 now to go and start that future fund, so thank 0:16:58.470 --> 0:17:01.680 you very much. Next time the consumer editor at The 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:04.710 Financial Times, Claer Barrett, will be here to talk through 0:17:04.710 --> 0:17:08.040 living with debt and managing it. This podcast is brought 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:09.899 to you by L& G. You can keep up with 0:17:09.900 --> 0:17:14.850 the show on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram @ legalandgeneral, and I would 0:17:14.850 --> 0:17:17.310 love it if you could follow the podcast, leave us 0:17:17.310 --> 0:17:20.010 a review, and help others get a little bit richer 0:17:20.010 --> 0:17:23.699 too. Thanks for listening. Until next time, see you soon.