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The prospect of investing can be daunting, especially for those who lack formal training in finance and feel overwhelmed by the complexity of financial markets. However, the good news is that a finance degree is not a prerequisite for successful investing. With the right approach and resources, anyone can learn to invest effectively and build a secure financial future. Understanding the basics of financial markets and following practical steps for self-education can empower you to overcome your fears and start investing with confidence. Whether you’re a complete novice or someone who has hesitated to take the plunge, you can acquire the knowledge and skills needed to begin your investment journey. The basic concept of investing is that you are buying shares of a company. If the company grows, its shares are worth more, which you can therefore sell for a profit. While the converse will result in selling at a loss, what matters is knowing how to buy companies when they are cheap and selling them when they become expensive. One other important thing that you already know is the fact that investments need seed money. While learning to invest, it is also a good time to save money to build your investment capital. Other than putting this money into a fixed deposit, you can use products such as to earn interest in the meantime. Another thing that you probably already know is that you should not put all your eggs into one basket, so whether you are a new investor or someone who has been investing for some time, you probably already know that you need to invest in different things in order to build a healthy portfolio. Investment strategies are not difficult to learn. Broadly speaking, there are two general types of strategies, those which look at company fundamentals (or financial health and profit making capability of company), and those which look more at technicals (or how the price is moving). Some more complex strategies take a hybrid approach, but in general, strategies are designed to make money in the long term so long as you stick to the plan. A good investment strategy is not rocket science, and it does not have to be hard to learn. This is probably a more important skill especially for people who invest based on technical analysis, however even for people who invest using fundamentals, it is good to have a of how to read these charts for an understanding of what is happening in the markets. Risk management is possibly the most important part of what any investor needs to learn. While most new investors already know that you need to diversify your investments, new investors may not be familiar with how to do so in order to avoid losing large chunks of the portfolio. One good rule of thumb is to allocate a portion of the portfolio into safe investments such as bonds or T-bills, and another portion into less safe investments. Riskier investments to be more volatile (i.e. price fluctuates more), and while this runs a higher risk of losses, it also presents greater potential for gains. Risk management is subjective because it needs to consider the individual investor’s risk appetite and knowledge of the investment product, so no two investors will manage their portfolios in the same way. Nevertheless, the main difference between a gambler and an investor is the fact that an investor performs diligent risk management in order to ensure long-term, stable profits. One possible way of managing risk is the , where portfolio allocations become more conservative as age increases. This allows interest to grow more quickly as the investor is young, and still continue to grow but focus on wealth preservation as the individual becomes older. The toughest part about learning to invest is taking the first step to do so. Registering with a broker, funding your account, and learning to use the brokerage interface. Fortunately, for this, there are video guides on how to do so. Unfortunately, setting up your account and funding it takes some time. Procrastinating on this may mean missing out on opportunities in the market. It is better to create your account first while learning to invest, so that it is ready for use. One important thing that all new investors should do is to make use of the feature. This allows you to trade without actually risking your real cash. While you also do not get any returns, the key objective of paper trading is to familiarise yourself with the interface, and to practice or test out investing strategies before you actually risk actual money in an investment. While Crypto Bros and Finance bros on YouTube and TikTok are a trap, there still exist good resources to learn how to invest. Some come in the form of paid courses. Other than that, there are also events such as the upcoming  happening on 6 Jul 2024 from 9am –  6pm at Suntec Convention Centre, Hall 405.   It's free! Don't miss out on the latest financial market movements. FSMOne aims to help investors around the world invest globally and profitably, follow for bite-sized finance analyses and exclusive happenings.