Five tips for safer investing

Investing is never entirely risk-free. If it were, we would all be extremely wealthy by now. Be sure to read on, however, because investing does give you a better chance of achieving a healthy return than simply putting all your money into savings. Are you an adventurous or cautious investor? These tips will help you to make a better assessment and mitigate the risks.

1. Gain some (basic) knowledge

You can learn a lot about investing, and if you’re so inclined you can delve into it in depth to your heart’s content. There are many different types of investments, each with their own characteristics and risks. For instance, you can invest in shares (equities), bonds, investment funds or even particular themes with which you would like to make a difference – renewable energy is one example, though there are many others.

But the great thing is you don't necessarily have to know much about the subject yourself. If that sounds right for you, an investment plan can give you peace of mind, because our experts take care of the complicated work.

2. Diversify your investments

There’s no such thing as 100% safe investing. But you can mitigate the risk and the best way to do that is to spread – ‘diversify’ – your investments. By spreading your investments over time, for example, investing 25 euros each month, over the longer term you will always be investing at an average price, as favourable entry points will smooth out any price dips. If you combine this with varying your investments across different kinds of assets, you will not be dependent on the performance of any one company or sector.

With an investment plan, you invest a monthly amount of your choice in investment funds, which means you are always combining diversification and variation. This an ideal option for both adventurous and cautious investors.

3. Focus on the long term

There’s no need to panic if your investments don't do well for a while. Historically, the markets have always more than made up for lost ground. The more time you leave your money invested, the longer it will have to produce a return. So if you invest with a ‘time horizon’ of several years, the good years will cancel out the less good ones, increasing your chances of a healthy return.

4. Work out your investment profile

Do you want to preserve the money you invest no matter what? What is your attitude to risk? And for how long can you do without your money? Your answers to these questions, together with your financial situation, determine your investment profile. This gives you greater clarity about your goals, but also forms the basis for a possible advisory meeting. That will allow our experts to give you personalised recommendations and maximise their commitment to achieving your goals.

5. Start by investing small amounts of money

Lots of small sums eventually add up to one big sum. If you prefer to play it safe, the following entry formulas allow you to start investing with peace of mind. You then start by investing small amounts, you don't need to be an expert yourself and, also important: you are always in control of your money.

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