Yahoo Finance Financial Expert Charles Payne: Here’s How Investing Can Be Simple
Every expert will tell you that today is the best time to start investing. Fewer claim that it’s easier than you think. Of those positive analysts, scarcely any are as convincing as Charles Payne at bringing ordinary people a sense of power and confidence via their financial decisions.
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Payne, the well-known market analyst, host of “Making Money with Charles Payne” on Fox Business and one of GOBankingRates’ “100 Most Influential Money Experts,” emphasizes simplifying the investment process for regular folks, giving them, as Allbusiness puts it, a “renewed belief in America and the notion the future can be what they want it to be through investing and self-determination.”
For Payne, “investing can be simple, if you allow it to be simple” and start learning straight away. “Start. Start. Start. Don’t wait for the foolproof play because it doesn’t exist.”
Here are some plain investing principles that Charles Payne endorses through his various outlets.
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Learn the Fundamentals and Do the Groundwork
Speaking to GOBankingRates about building wealth, Payne stressed the importance of learning.
“Always be a student. There are twists and turns to life, and what works today might not tomorrow — the one constant is staying at it and being open-minded,” he said. That means not only gaining a basic understanding of how the stock market works and knowing key concepts and terms, but going deep in to trends, company profiles, industry advantages and growth potential.
Be Patient and Focus on Long-Term Goals
Payne believes in trusting your long-term goals — you’ve spent time setting clear investing objectives and defined your long-term financial goals. So, why would you start changing your strategy and start putting all your money into one stock or begin rapid trading and panic selling? You aren’t investing your money to buy a pair of sneakers next week, you’re building wealth for your retirement savings, buying a home or funding education.
Invest in What You Know
On a Fox Business clip posted on May 31, Payne talks about doing your research, but also investing in companies in which you are familiar and industries you understand. If investing is on your mind while you’re out shopping and you go to buy something at Old Navy (to use Payne’s example), “the moment you hand over your credit card, that’s gonna be your eureka moment.” Having a stake in products you consume will help you make more informed decisions and stay confident in your investments.
Be Diversified
In his book, “Future-Proofing Your Portfolio,” Payne provides a guide to understand the fundamentals of diversification and the knowledge to make informed, strategic decisions that align with the future of your investments. Most experts agree with creating a balanced portfolio that includes a mix of stocks, bonds and other assets to reduce risk, and Payne is no different.
Keep a Cool Head and Be Disciplined
Stock investing can be like a rollercoaster ride of emotion, but Payne stresses not let fear drive your investment decisions. In the event of a market downturn, trust your research and decisions. They might not always be correct, but they are yours to own.
“The beautiful thing is the up periods are significantly longer and more lucrative than the down periods,” Payne said back in 2022, but it’s fine advice for this year and every one that follows. “This is a year to refocus on balance, safety and patience.”
Don’t Lose Touch With the Simple Strategies
Part of always remaining a student is learning to be adaptable based on new information and changing market conditions, but also using the simple strategies that have already been burned into your brain. Just because a lesson is common knowledge or basic, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. Payne isn’t shy of pushing strategies like dollar-cost averaging (investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of the market’s condition) and buy and hold investing (purchase quality stocks with strong financials and trustworthy management and hold them for the long term).
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Financial Expert Charles Payne: Here’s How Investing Can Be Simple
