You might have heard it once before. You might have heard it a hundred times. Some variation of “the key to wealth is in investing, not working” is repeated ad nauseum from those focused n wealth building, financial independence, and the like. It is, of course, true, but how do you actually start investing? Here, we’re going to look at what it actually takes to start trading.

The Capital

First of all, you need to have the capital that’s required to start buying your first assets. In terms of the stock market, you can start with as little as $500 and keep building up. To that end, you need to make sure that you’re able to set a financial goal in your budget and to meet it through a dedicated saving strategy. You need to commit until you have enough money to start trading and the best way to do that is to maximise your earnings and reduce your spending where you can.

The Education

Should you start buying and trading as soon as you have the money and simply pick it up as you go along? There’s no denying that this is the path that some traders will take. However, it couldn’t be called the most effective. You should get an idea of how the markets work before you buy a stock. There are plenty of free resources to help you learn the ropes, and many brokers and trading platforms have their own tutorials, then there are more dedicated approaches like a Udemy course on stock marketing investing. Whatever way of learning works best for you is the choice worth making.

The Broker

Once you have the money and the know-how, where do you buy stocks, Forex, and the other assets that you want to trade in? This is the role of the stockbroker, also known as a stock platform. Get to know which is best for you by seeing what other experienced traders have to say in things like FXGlobe reviews. But you should also choose brokers based on what you want to trade in, as they will have their own specializations. Don’t forget to keep an eye out on any hidden fees that can make it harder to get started or eat your profits.

The Plan

Once you start investing, then you need to keep up with the market. You can set things like stop orders to sell when your stocks drop enough in value, but it’s better to do it manually, to track both the stocks you are currently trading in and those that you want to. Following business and finance publications is a great way to keep an eye on stock, for instance, as you can see the news that will affect the stock prices, such as successes, failures, acquisitions, new leadership, and so on.

The tips outlined above are, of course, only the beginning. Researching good investment opportunities, building strategies, and managing a portfolio takes more effort than outlined above. However, if you simply want to get started, then this is how you do it.