Here’s a guide to invest in 2019

As you work hard to make money, likewise, you have to make money work hard to create more money. Confused? Well, it’s good if you’ve been saving to achieve your financial plans, but savings alone cannot help you. You will have to build a huge corpus to meet your expenses such as buying a house, car, marriage, child’s education and post-retirement phase, which can happen by investing.

Two months of 2019 have already passed by and it’s time to accelerate your wealth building now. You will have to bring significant changes in your financial thought process, in a bid to make financial goals come true. If you’ve been investing, re-visit your portfolio and see whether your investments require a re-jig or any tweaking.

In case you are just dipping your feet into the investing ecosystem, take help from a financial advisor or read thoroughly to understand risks, returns and types of investments.

In 2019, there are many asset classes that can help you in your long-term investment journey. Take a look

1. Stock markets: We understand that stock markets were gyrating in 2018. But, it’s 2019 and you should not only depend on past performance. You have to read company’s profile, outlook, balance sheet, etc., before investing in equities, keeping a long-term vision. You cannot time the market and you have to practice discipline and patience, while investing in stocks. You can take long-term risks and expect stable returns.
2. Commodities: They are becoming a popular tool of investment as commodities are easy to understand and invest in. If you are a new investor, you can look at commodities as one of the asset classes to balance the portfolio. They are less in number and are not dependent on any company’s performance, political upheaval, bankruptcy of any company, and more. The sentiment is changing and 2019 looks like a good year for investing in commodities owing to low bank interest rates and volatile stock market. Also, market regulator SEBI has announced a slew of measures for ease of investing in commodities. It allowed NSE to launch a commodity exchange on its platform. Now, investors can invest in bullion--gold (1kg), gold mini (100 grams) and silver contracts (30kg). The electronic platform at NSE combined with liquidity and settlement guarantee encourage wider participation and an efficient price discovery mechanism.
3. Mutual funds: This is another category that you can read about and invest wisely. You can benefit from volatility through systematic investment plans (SIPs) in mutual funds. Depending on your risk appetite, you can look at different types of mutual funds such as balanced funds, hybrid funds, etc.
4. Traditional ways: Schemes such as PPF, FDs, NSCs, NPS, etc., cannot go wrong. These traditional investment tools are safer to invest and easy to comprehend. You can add a PPF or FD to your portfolio to stabilise it.
5. Real estate: Following several initiatives by the government, such as RERA, GST and Housing for All, real estate can be an attractive proposition.