Investing is a Foreign Language

Scott,

We are two middle-aged partnered women -- one retired, one about to go part time in a well-paid professional job. We have very good superannuation balances and are living (comfortably) off my salary. We are debt free and pay off our one credit card each month. We would like to explore investing in shares but know absolutely NOTHING about it. ‘Dividends’, ‘blue chips’, ‘bonds’ -- it is a foreign language to us. Where do we start?

Annie

Hi Annie,

You’re already an investor. Congratulations!

And you’ve been smart enough to invest via the most tax-effective structure available: superannuation.

The fund that you’re with now, probably invests on your behalf.

However, there are some low-cost super funds that now offer a ‘direct investment’ option, which allows you to take invest part of your super into buying individual shares that you select.

Of course, choosing which shares to buy is another matter. You could pay for the services of a full-service stockbroker, you may wish to do a course through the ASX, or you might want to think about joining my investment newsletter, the Barefoot Blueprint.

Right now investing may seem like a foreign language, but it really does come down to commonsense. Plus it’s a lot of fun!

Scott