“It takes time to make money.”
– Jesse Livermore
The Starting Point – Know Thyself
It’s important to know your own risk appetite, financial standings and time horizon to investment in order to build a long-term investment strategy and portfolio that suits your objectives and needs. There are many types of assets, financial instruments, tactics and strategies that can be tailored to each investor’s needs and preference but before such actions are employed, it’s always in the best interest to clearly define your starting point.
How to Invest In Singapore Stock Market
Every investor needs 2 accounts to start investing in the local stock market – a CDP account and a Trading account.
What is a CDP Account?
The Central Depository (CDP) account helps to safe keep the shares you have bought, and is managed by the Singapore Exchange.
What is a Trading Account?
Before you make your first investment, you need to open a Trading account with a brokerage of your choice. This account provides you access to buy and sell shares in Singapore securities market.
Investors may open multiple Trading Accounts with different brokerages. Unless you already have a specific broker you would like to use, the brokerage will usually assign a representative when you open an account with them.
How to open CDP and Trading Accounts?
Any retail broker can help you set up both the CDP and Trading accounts at no cost, as long as you are at least 18 years old and not an undischarged bankrupt. Your accounts will be ready in approximately 10 business days after submission.
- When opening your accounts, you should bring along:
- Original identity card
- Valid passport (for foreigners)
- Bank statement or original utility bill as proof of residential address (for Foreigners)
Golden Rules in Investing
1. Only invest using money that is not meant for everyday life expenditure.
2. Invest cautiously, always demanding a margin of safety.
3. Take some gains off the table when given the opportunity
4. Stay invested if the investment still holds promise
BYOPM 