When should one to start to think about investments?

Hi anon,

You should aim to start thinking about it as early as possible. It doesn't mean you have to take action however. Aim to pick up knowledge, know your options, know their pros and cons. In the mean time, aim to grow your human capital so that your salary picks up faster; more capital to invest in is always a good thing.

Investing doesn't always mean your money is locked up. You can always liquidate your investment at any time. The real question is whether you can accept the returns you will get after liquidating. Various asset classes also have different liquidty time frames. Stocks/ETFs/UTs can pretty much be liquidated immediately and you'll get your proceeds after a while. Slightly more illiquid assets will take long, say, property.

You still have time. Pick up some knowledge first, as I mentioned.

Hi there!

Investing might seem really taunting, playing with risk to hopefully grow one's money. But I sincerely hope that this post would alleviate whatever concerns you have about investing and instead give you the drive and motivation to do so!

Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha's greatest regret in his life was that he didn't get into investing earlier. So simply put, the best time to invest is now. That being said, one must always understand the product / company one is investing in. It's operations, its business model, its SWOT environment.

And in terms of your concerns on liquidity, there are various asset classes among the spectrum of assets which offers various levels of liquidity. You have cash which is the most liquid, followed by Stocks / Equities (dependent on trading volume as well), then there's your bonds and lastly properties.

You could consider putting some money into REITs to create an additional income stream for you through the dividends it pays out.

First of all, kudos to having 45k of savings at a young age.

Time to start: as early as possible

Does investing mean your money will be locked up? It really depends on what kind of assets you invest in. If property, yes, it means your money will be locked up until the time you sell it. If it's equities, if you sell above your principal amount, you can cash out once you sell it provided there is enough liquidity (usually not an issue unless you buy a counter with low trading volumes).

I don't have much yet to begin with: S$45k = not much to begin with? It's more than enough.
I would put it in the equity markets, since 45k is not enough for downpayment for property, and you would likely not spend it all in one asset class. ​​​

Hey there, one should only start to think about investments once you have set aside your emergency funds and other short term miscellaneous items such as housing renovation, wedding, daily expenses etc.. and if you are not sure where you put that remaining amount at. And investing does not mean your money will be locked up! You are basically buying a stock, and you can sell it anytime. Of course if the stock prices goes down, the common mentality is to keep holding on to it, and in a way that "locks" your money if the stock you purchase do not have forward growth ahead. However, always have a long horizon in investing - you should not sell it immediately if the business still have a long run way to go :)