2020 was a year for investment learning. People have spent additional time to research more about various investment strategies and thereby lifted up to invest in prospering stocks. Investment has become a trend in India now. As per the report by the State Bank of India, around 142 lakh new investors joined the stock markets in the financial year 2020-2021.

Indians who used to traditionally choose gold mostly as an option to invest have now found a new obsession and that is the crypto currency. Crypto currency investments straightaway grew from about $923 million in April 2020 to nearly $6.6 billion by May 2021, in India.

Understanding Investments

With the demand for expertise in financial markets, investment are an invaluable asset. Most people invest in assets such as stocks, bonds or mutual funds that yield a fixed rate of return or a higher yield than government securities.

 While having low rates of return or lower yields does not mean that investing is not important, it can also mean that your returns are not that high. In order to meet your financial goals, an important thing to keep in mind is that you should have a portfolio that provides you with both the certainty of having a high income and also a higher rate of return. While inflation is currently lower than previously, inflation over the long-term can make all other asset prices go up in value.

Investment in various stocks

Investment in stocks has become quite popular among people now. Finance companies now offer advice and advisement on various stocks. Also, people can put their money in mutual funds and mutual fund SIPs. What is an SIP?

An SIP is a systematic investment plan that helps you save on your time and effort. You first start investing a small amount and then invest more and more money. The extra money goes in the SIP account and you start taking a regular interest. This money will slowly grow and you can start withdrawing it from your SIP account at regular intervals.

Digital Finance

The time has come when digital finance is also catching up in India. When the government announced the decision to go cashless people was wondering what digital finance would look like. However, more than the government, the corporates have taken this opportunity to transform into digital enterprises.

Already leading banks are offering their services digitally to customers. While most people use their mobile phones to transact digitally, digital payments now allow card payments too. The digital payments in the country also include BHIM app and Paytm wallet, which are the leading players in the Indian digital payments industry. More and more companies and banks are adopting and leveraging digital technology to offer services and transform into digital enterprises.

The risks involved in investments

There are various risks involved while making investments. The kind of investment may give a higher chance of returns to an investor compared to gold, but there are still no guarantees involved. The risk of loss is much higher than other options, but the reward is a lot more. However, the opportunity of growing your funds by investing in a product that you would normally not have been able to afford before makes investment banking a lot more lucrative.

The gains for every sale are higher than the base amount invested. That’s because the risks involved are higher. These are what we call leverage products. One of the major risks that can affect your finances is the currency movements. For instance, a U.S. Dollar portfolio can lose as much as 15-20% in value when the value of a single unit drops by more than 5%.

How do you forecast financial performance?

What does it mean to forecast financial performance? First of all, the term forecast financial performance means, to consider the financial results of your investments. It is extremely important to create generating assets for financial freedom. In order to achieve this, you have to constantly review your portfolio regularly, i.e. in quarterly, semi-annual and yearly intervals.

In order to generate generating assets, you have to earn higher returns on your investments. It is equally important to maintain an adequate cash reserves. You have to invest your money wisely in order to reap higher returns. On the other hand, to generate generating assets, you have to risk your money, i.e. sell your assets for generating assets.

Predicting the stock market results

It is very difficult to predict the exact stock market movement at the current moment, so you can predict the performance of a stock in future. Trace the direction and make your stock investment decisions accordingly. Investors who predict the stock performance successfully become millionaires.

 These investors try to use technical analysis. Tail Risk – A Strategy to detect loss in stock Market this strategy is used to detect loss in the stock market. If a stock is predicted to fall then the investor buy the stock at a lower price. The strategy doesn't suggest buying the stocks at a high price. In this strategy, if you predict a fall in a stock then you buy it at a cheaper price.

How to increase your wealth

The following are some of the steps to generate money and build your wealth:

1. Investment: Investing in various instruments can help you in generating money. You can invest in shares, bank fixed deposits and mutual funds.

2. Cutdown your expenses: This is the key strategy to generate money. You can cut down your expenses by doing various types of simple cost cutting. This strategy can help you in earning more income.

 3. Don't spend on unnecessary things: This is the next key strategy to increase your wealth. Avoid spending on luxuries and do not show off your wealth in the society.

4. Put your money into assets: Investments can help you in earning returns of 5% to 7% in the short run, after deducting your investments costs and commissions.

What are the best investments for your 30s?

Md. Arefin Siddique, Chief Investment Officer & Co-Founder, Schroders India Ltd, says that investors must invest in equities after they hit their 30s. You can choose to invest in public equities, start an individual provident fund or start a tax-saving fixed deposit. Do it only when you start earning. He suggests a 10-20% allocation to equities as per your risk appetite.

Who should avoid investments after their 30s? Shailesh Kumar, Chief Investment Officer, Prime Database India, shares that 30-40 years is considered the investment stage where the risk aversion would be higher and higher, and so you should not be in this bracket to even save for a rainy day. "Just put in a 5% savings for your rainy day and put in the rest in equities.

Techniques to forecast future stock market performance?

As we discussed earlier, there are different ways to forecast future stock market performance and it varies from person to person. This is because there are certain factors that will help you to predict future performance. To make a more detailed forecast, we will consider the impact of different variables on stock market performance.

 Fixed Income Fixed income investment is when you invest in fixed-income assets, such as bonds or Treasury notes. These assets give you reliable and safe returns over the long-term. However, bonds and Treasury notes are not like stocks and they do not offer high returns, over a short period of time. In addition to that, if the US interest rates go up then you may not earn high returns.

The importance of diversifying your investment portfolio

The first thing to take a look at when you start investing in the stock market is to diversify your portfolio. You can add up to 15 to 20 stocks in a single portfolio at any given point of time and hold for the long term. In the past decade, I personally have done this and have been successful with it.

 By doing this, you also get to benefit from different stocks at different time periods. In other words, you are diversifying your investments. One of my top tips is to create an investment policy statement which comprises of key things to be set. Your investment policy statement should include the percentage you are investing in stocks at different points of time. For example, your policy statement should be 80 to 80.5% in the beginning, 25 to 25.

The Pros and Cons of an Investment as a Career

TSR is best used when analyzing venture capital and private equity investments. These investments typically involve multiple cash investments over the life of the business and a single cash outflow at the end through an initial public offering (IPO) or sale.

Because TSR is expressed as a percentage, the figure is readily comparable with industry benchmarks or companies in the same sector. However, it reflects the past overall return to shareholders without consideration of future returns.

How to get started with investments

If you’re interested in investing, the best place to start is to learn through various online courses. You’ll also find various discussion forums and other information that can assist you in your quest.

The pros

If you’re saving for a rainy day, it’s worthwhile considering investing. With this income on top of your savings, you should find you’re in a much better position to deal with financial problems in the future. 

Unsure where to invest your money?  Remember, you don’t have to invest in just one thing. If you don’t know where to start, it may be worth considering some online platforms to learn about the different stocks, shares and profiles of companies that are worth considering.

Should you invest?  By investing in the stock market, you can earn capital gains as your investments rise in value. The more time you have between investing and the time your investments appreciate, the higher the amount of money you stand to gain.

  However, with these gains you also run the risk of missing out on the current market increase if you choose not to sell at a moment’s notice.  When investing in the stock market, you can seek to diversify by spreading out your investments across a variety of sectors or companies. This can help you to reduce risk and limit any losses that you might suffer.

The cons

Those looking for investments that provide higher cash-on-cash returns will often want to own them directly rather than in a mutual fund. However, mutual funds provide access to higher level of expertise in monitoring and controlling risks.

Mutual funds tend to have lower minimum investments as compared to direct investing. Therefore, they are also often considered more accessible than other investment vehicles for the common investor. 

However, a big question that is often asked by investors is “why should I opt for mutual funds over direct investing?” First, we must understand that investors will not make any financial gains by choosing direct investing rather than mutual funds.

Investing in mutual fund might not give you the best returns but the impact of taxes can make it the worst investment you make. When you invest in mutual funds, capital gains are taxed as regular income.

The capital gains tax varies from 10% to 20% depending on the securities holding of a fund. Furthermore, interest income, dividends and capital gains earned on principal amount of debt also attract tax. In case of stock mutual funds, you will also pay capital gains tax on dividends earned by mutual fund shares. 

Conclusion

The year 2020 has been a year of time for all those who has invested time to learn more about investments and learn the value of different kinds of investments. From gold to bitcoin, people have seen a large change in the market, and they are excited to take more risks now.

So, in short, where to invest, how much to invest and what should you do to achieve the desired goal in life. Read over the information, thoroughly and test it with your first budget and then take a decision to invest.