The whole point of investing is to put your hard-earned money to work. Throughout the years, people save their money by allocating some amount out of their monthly paychecks aside. It’s this money that people usually invest with. Investing, for the most part, is considered a smart thing that everyone should do.

In this article, we’re going to talk about the things you need to know about investing.

1. Portfolio

The first thing you should know is all of your stocks and bonds can be kept in a portfolio. A portfolio should be the first thing a serious investor should do, right after making the first investment.

2. Stock Exchange

A stock exchange is where some of you might be investing. For beginners, investing in stock can be very difficult. There are a few different stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. A stock exchange is a place where you can buy or sell shares.

3. Investing in Stocks

This is the first thing that comes across a person’s mind whenever someone mentions investing. And rightfully so, since investing in stocks is the most common type of investing out there. However, stocks, to put it simply, are part owners of a company. The number of shares you buy, the higher the stocks you own. Based on the performance of the company your stocks will eighter grow, making your shares worth more, or fall. When it comes to portfolios, stocks statistically outnumber bonds.

4. Bonds

Bonds are generally used by governments to compensate workers for public works. Bonds, by definition, are fixed assets in which the owner of the bond lends money to the issuer of the bond. The purpose of the bond, according to investotred.com, does not fluctuate the same way stocks do in regards to the market. Bonds are meant to pay off a specific amount of money after a specific set of time and are very important for your portfolio. Your portfolio will not be balanced without bonds. According to statistics, bonds generally make up the portfolios of elderly Americans.

5. Mutual Funds

Mutual funds, as the name suggests, are pools of money that multiple investors contribute to. The pools are then invested into both bonds and stocks by a portfolio manager that is chosen by the fund. As a matter of fact, mutual funds are an excellent way for a beginner investor to start investing. This is because the investors that contribute are experienced enough to manage the entire fund. The head investor, the one that invests in his choosing, will invest in stocks or bonds with small risks. Other investors have the option to buy off another investor’s shares from the mutual fund, which is calculated based on the current market.

6. Active and Passive Investing

Active investing differs a lot from passive investing. The former means investing in trades that are based on the current market fluctuation. But the latter is different in a way that once you invest in a market share or bond, you wait and hold. This is a strategy called “Buy and Hold” and is widely referred to in cryptocurrency trading.