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● If you’re a student reading this article, props to you! You are ahead of the game when it comes to and , and have probably heard the saying: The best time to invest was yesterday. The next best time is today. That doesn’t mean that you sign up for an now and immediately buy a that you’ve seen soaring in price, without any prior knowledge. So here’s what you to do before investing as a student, whether you have or to invest! Before we dive into the nitty gritty of actually investing in an asset, you must understand that the biggest investment that anyone can make is in . Yes, it may sound cliche but it is true, having a diploma or a degree is necessary for you to get your foot in the corporate door unless you’re a genius like Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. So, you should be prioritising your studies first and invest in something that you can safely . On the financial side, you need to ensure that you: Once you have checked off all the above and have some spare cash ready to deploy, you need to formulate an investing strategy based on your risk appetite. If you can tolerate seeing red (your assets losing value) of 80-90%, while still focusing on your studies, there’s nothing wrong with picking your favourite stock after you’ve done the necessary research and have a super strong conviction about it. However, that is not the case for most of us. From my experience as well as from the advice of the top investors in the world such as Warren Buffet, the best strategies all revolve around a . Before you make your first investment, you will need to read up on the various investment strategies, asset classes and how to access your risk appetite. Take your time to learn about these as it is important to lay a strong investing foundation, just like how you would tackle a subject in school! Here are some articles we have written to help you get started: If you ask me, I adopted the buy-and-hold strategy and invested in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This is a mid-to-high risk/growth way to your investments as you are still young. However, I’m not a certified financial advisor and I don’t know your specific situation so it is best to ask for advice from multiple sources. One great way is to do so via our Seedly Community! Over the years, we have had students come asking for advice such as in this : If your strategy includes investing in Singapore or government bonds, you’ll need something called a . Local brokerages will require CDP account linkage if you want to buy assets under your name. Here’s a quick guide on how to open one: Bonus tip: if you’re a student, consider opening too as you may miss out on benefits when you are older! Once you have everything in order, it’s time to choose the best investing platform that has access to your preferred assets! To make things easier, I’ve come up with a table that includes your risk level and some of the platforms/assets you are likely to consider using. Click on the links in the table to read more about them! As you can see, you can start investing from as little as $1, while others require more money to start an initial investment. For the latter, it’s a good idea to build a warchest, a separate account from your transactions account where you can set aside money for investment. This can be a high-interest savings account or a cash management account. The table also does not show alternative investments such as . For these alternative assets, you’ll need a deeper understanding before investing in them. But no matter the amount, the important thing when it comes to investing is to always understand what exactly you are investing in by doing your research! As you invest, you will also learn from your experiences. Thus, it’s generally a good idea to start small and learn from there. Once you have successfully invested, trust the process and go back to investing in yourself!