Balvinder Thandi, specialist dental financial consultant for Wesleyan Financial Services, shares key points for dentists when starting the investment journey.
If you’re new to investing, it can seem a little daunting.
Investing wisely can help you accomplish life goals or provide a buffer against adversity. Such as the impact caused by COVID-19 for much of the profession.
Investing differs from saving as, instead of simply putting money aside, you are essentially buying things that may increase in value over time, thus growing your money.
As a starting point, you need to decide what you will use the money for in the long term. You may want to save for a house deposit, buying your own practice or practice assets, your child’s future or your retirement. You may just want to make your financial future more secure during these uncertain times.
Once you’ve decided what you’re saving for, you can start to think about your investment options.
It’s worth remembering that all investments carry a certain amount of risk. The right place to invest very much depends on how much risk you want to take.
In it for the long haul
Investing is normally a medium to long-term home for your money. If you cannot commit your money for at least five years, investing may not be for you.
As an investor, you’ll undoubtedly encounter the ups and downs of the stock market. This is a normal part of the investment journey. It’s important to keep a level head and remember that you’re in it for a long-term outcome.
Understand the asset classes
It is important to spread the risk of your investments. You can do this by investing across many different investment types (also known as asset classes). This is a process known as ‘diversification’ and it helps because it makes your investment less sensitive to the risk of a single event.
- Cash – cash as an asset class can include money deposited with banks or held by other financial companies. But it can also include holding short-term government or corporate debt
- Bonds and gilts – a bond is essentially an ‘IOU’ from a company or government that wishes to raise money, with a promise to pay it back at a later date. A bond issued by the UK government is called a gilt
- Property – the type of property you can invest in is broadly split between ‘residential’ and ‘commercial’ property
- Equities – also known as stocks and shares. You can purchase company shares to provide part-ownership of a company
- Commodities – commodities are goods such as oil, coffee, gold and silver. It is a highly speculative form of investing and therefore highly risky.
Seek advice from specialists
Whether you’re looking to invest for personal or business growth, having the advice of a financial consultant, particularly one who specialises in the dental profession, could get you off to the best start.
A specialist financial consultant that works within the dental industry means they have the insights, experience and understanding on the complexities of the dental profession.
Specialists can talk to you about diversification and take you through a risk assessment to work out what level of risk you’re comfortable with.
If you’d like to discuss investments or any aspect of your personal or business financial needs, you can book a no-obligation 30-minute quick-start chat with a specialist Wesleyan Financial Services consultant at www.wesleyan.co.uk/quickstart. Alternatively, you can call 0800 316 3784.
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