How to Invest in Stocks – For Beginners Like Me

I bought my first PSE stocks on July 2013. My first buy was a minimum Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) stocks with the price of PhP92.9/share. I was so excited to finally have done it. And in the succeeding months I bought the same amount of BPI stocks with a slightly lower price.

A year ago, I never knew anything about stock investing and how people are doing it.

My actual introduction to stock investing came with a mutual fund. With a mutual fund I learned things about PSEi stocks and how they are traded. Mutual fund to me is an intermediary to direct stock investing, a sort of a middle man who is doing the investing on my behalf. In here, my money is entrusted to an investment house (an investment company) in exchange for a fee. The investment house does the investing strategies, does the choosing what kind of portfolio it must maintain. I don’t have a hand on these. In stock investing, I don’t need the middle man. I do the investing myself. I choose what company stocks to buy, how long I will maintain it, when to sell it and more. All I need is open an account with a stockbroker and make my trades in the market through that stock broker.

I found out stock investing is simpler than what I thought previously. I thought it is only for the rich people who have lots of money to spend. But I was wrong. Even poor people who are keen at investing can participate in stock investing. The minimum amount to open an account is PhP5,000.00.

I chose to have an online stockbroker. To me it is much more dynamic. It allows me to have a direct and immediate hand on my investments through internet.

Basic knowledge of stock investing includes:

1. Choosing my stock broker

Stock broker can either through phone or online. There are 10 online stockbrokers in PSEi. I opted for Colfinancial.

2. Opening my stock account 

Starting an account with Colfinancial is at a minimum of PhP5,000.00 only. I made a personal visit to their main office located at Ortigas, Pasig. 

3. Buying my first stocks 

Remember the opening fee of PhP5,000.00? The good thing is that the said amount is consumable. Meaning, the account holder can use it right away to purchase stocks.

That’s it. Not that complicated. However there is an important thing. Stock investing is just one of the many vehicles of money-making. As like any other investments, there is a risk. It is needed to have diligence and patience in stock investing. 

I am in a long-term investment when it comes to stocks. This is my retirement program. I intend to become a [multi-]millionaire when I retire.