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Preparing to Invest

Step by Step

Step 1. Assess your situation
Investing money is not the same as saving it. There's more risk involved. So before investing in anything, an honest self-appraisal is in order to see if you're prepared financially and emotionally.

Find an IFA
Risk Tolerance Quiz
Financial IQ Test

FAQ:
Financial advisors
Risk tolerance

Step 2. Test your knowledge and your nerve
Managing your own investments isn't for everybody. Once you've taken our quizzes, you can decide if you need professional help.
Help with portfolio planning and management is just a click away in the Retirement section. Before taking this on as a do-it-yourself project, try our quiz to make sure you're ready.

Answering these questions will help you understand both your capacity for risk and your attitude toward it.

It takes more than technical know-how to create a financial plan. See if you are prepared.

FAQ:
Bonds
Markets
ISA's
Stocks

Step 3. Understand your choices
If you've come this far, you've probably got the resources and temperament to invest. It's time to look at the basic building blocks of a portfolio.

Understanding stocks, bonds and mutual funds

Building a portfolio on a shoestring budget

Bonds: a modest but reliable investment

Is now the time to add stocks to your portfolio?

FAQ:
Asset allocation Investment strategies

Step 4. Build your investment model
Spreading your risk among different investments is one key to success, according to most financial advisers. Appropriate allocation of your investment assets is the way both to diversify and to adapt your portfolio to changing goals over time.

How to make asset allocation work for you

Asset Allocator
Determine the best asset-allocation model for your specific needs.

Step by Step:
Invest in Funds

Step by Step:
Invest in Stocks

Step 5. Begin Investing
Now you're ready to start investing in funds or stocks.

What you should buy as a beginning investor