Saving and Investing
A little goes a long way when it comes to investing
By Aminah Syed 20 October 2019 2 min read
Investing is complicated. So we tapped Chris Turchansky, the president of ATB Wealth to share his investment knowledge.
Turchansky spent half an hour on Facebook Live with host Mandy Balak—founder and CEO of The Ace Class and It’s Date Night—sharing some smart, simple, and helpful tips to help you get your start on investing.
Start early
“Start as early as you can. When you start early, you get the benefits of your money growing over time,” explained Turchansky. He likened the effect to rolling a snowball down a hill. The longer the snowball rolls, the larger it gets.
Start small
You don’t need a large sum to make that initial snowball. ATB Prosper, an online investing platform, was specifically designed to help cultivate good investment habits. You can get started with a minimum contribution of $100.
“If you can get into the habit of saving money then when your situation in life changes and you happen to make more money and you have been able to pay off some debt like student loans, you already have that habit in place. Then it’s easier to increase your contributions rather than just starting from square one,” said Turchansky.
Make a plan
Everyone around you will have opinions and suggestions on how and where to invest your money. You’ll need a plan that’s as unique as you.
“This is not your mom’s plan. This is not your dad’s plan. It’s a plan that’s based on you,” said Turchansky.
Don’t speculate
Turchansky also shared a personal story about speculative investments. Long before he began a career in investing, he fell prey to the notion of making an easy buck.
“It was a copper mine in Guatemala,” he said, “I thought it could change my life forever, and of course this excitement eventually turned to frustration because I soon realized my money was gone.”
Turchansky learned a hard lesson from that experience.
“Don’t speculate. There’s no such thing as get rich quick in investing.”
That experience is part of what set Turchansky on the path to working in investment banking.
Diversify!
Given his experience and long career in investing, Turchansky says the best approach to making smart investments is a long-term and diversified portfolio.
“Find a balance between living for the day and a long-term game,” said Turchansky. “Life moments are going to change your ability to take on risk. The closer you are to needing your money, the less you’ll want things to fluctuate.”