Lately, we have been hearing news that the stock market is at its all-time high.
The PSEi (Philippine Stock Exchange Index) breaches 8,300+ points.
You ask yourself, “I want to invest in the stock market but am I already too late?”
6 years ago, I have the same question?
The market is in uncharted territory. It is in its all-time high.
Maybe its already too late. I’ll just wait for it to go down then I’ll start investing.
6 years after, the market almost tripled!
The PSEi is seen to hit 30,000 points!
What is the PSEi?
The PSEi is a barometer of the economic performance. It is composed of 30 stocks that represent the general movement of the market. It tells us the market sentiment if the economy is seen to be growing or declining.
My mentor, the investment guru Ricky So, explained to me that the market will hit the 30,000 points in our lifetime. You may follow his thoughts in his blog The Fast Exchange.
(Subscribe to my email list, message me and I will send to you Mr. Ricky So’s presentation discussing why the PSEi will hit 30,000 points by 2026-2036.)
Trading is different from Investing.
People say that the stock market is like a giant casino.
Others say it is one of the best investment vehicles.
But how can a casino be an investment? Isn’t it ironic?
The answer is it depends on who plays or invests.
Trading is like playing in the casino.
You buy in the morning, you sell in the afternoon or 2-3 days after.
You buy a stock at a low price and sell it at a higher price (IDEALLY).
But the stock market is not ideal. No one can really know what will happen to the price. We can only predict it.
Trading is always hindsight: “Ohh, I should bought ABC Stock when it was at P20/share and sold it when it hit P50/share”. It is always past tense.
That’s why Warren Buffet doesn’t buy based on price but based on value.
Investing on the other hand is looking at the value of the company: the people leading the business, the products and services they offer, and its profitability. We look at the business and ask the question, 20 to 30 years from now, will this business still earning and growing?
For example, do you see companies such as MERALCO, BPI, BDO, SM, GLOBE, and PLDT (These stocks are called blue chip stocks) in business for the next 20-30years from now? Do you see that it will still continue to grow and earn?
If you do, then why not invest in them? 20-30years from now, your investment will grow with them as they grow.
But I can’t afford to buy BLUE CHIP Stocks?
Buying individual blue chip stocks are a little expensive for starters. As of writing, the minimum investment to buy PLDT shares is P8,525 (P1,795/share x 5 minimum shares).
But you don’t want to buy just one stock. You want to buy different stocks to spread the risk. So if one stock goes down, the other growing stock will offset it. We call this diversification.
The Solution: Buy Funds and Do Peso-Cost Averaging
If you are not a professional investor, individual stocks are a bit riskier. You want to focus on what you are good at: which is doing your job and your business. That’s is why you let the professionals do their work.
Doing this will also take away the emotional aspect of investing which is the number 1 reason why people lose money in the stock market.
Buy a FUND instead of INDIVIDUAL STOCKS
A Fund is a pool of stocks being managed by a professional fund manager. Buying units/shares in a fund allows you in buying different sets of stocks with an amount you can afford.
There are funds that invest in stocks like PLDT, BPI, SM, BDO, and AYALA that you can buy for as low as P1,500-P3,000 per month.
Imagine! With your P1,500 you can buy PLDT, BPI, SM, BDO, and AYALA compared to investing in an individual stock of PLDT which will cost you P8,525 just to buy the minimum number of shares.
Make sure that you research the company managing the fund. Has it been in the business for a long time? Make sure that fund has an historical performance of at least 10 years.
That way you can see how it performs during the ups and downs of the market.
There are also funds that invest in the index (PSEi), meaning with P1,500-3,000 per month, you can own those 30 stocks carefully picked to represent the market.
PESO-COST AVERAGING
The concept is buying a fund for a FIXED AMOUNT (P1,500, P3,000, P5,000) at the same FREQUENCY (such as monthly or quarterly) for the next 10-20years.
You don’t care about the price. You just buy for example P3,000 every 15th of the month.
If the price is high, you buy less units/shares.
If the price is low, you buy more units/shares.
So in return, you don’t care about the market fluctuations in the short term because you look at the long –term and you buy the average price.
Since you believe that the companies where the fund is invested in will be there 20-30years from now and that it will still continue to grow, the price of that share 20-30years from now will be so much higher than it’s current price today.
Wanted to Start but don’t know how? I can help you!
Your Millennial Wealth Planner,
Harold Q. Gardon, CWP, CEPP
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