Buying and selling shares can be a profitable endeavor but it may depend on the way we approach it. Although there are a lot of ways through which we can spend all our free time, I think 'minimalist investing' is among the most appealing if not the top. We, here are some ways you can make it less of a burden in 2021.

Minimalist investing 101

Concentrating on a few holdings could be the best way to start on this.

Naturally, the number will vary from person to person. With that said, we all have a limit on the amount of time we can allocate to researching, buying, and monitoring our investments. For example, my ISA profile usually does not have more than 20 stocks. Anything that exceeds this may make me overwhelmed. Again, very many stocks may dilute my wins which I expect should be massive!

For other people, 20 different companies may feel like a lot. When this is the case, they may prefer buying few cheap, exchange-traded funds. What these do is they track an index for example the FTSE 100, offer instant diversification, and need next to no 'maintenance'.

Investor experts predict that 2021 will see many opportunities for investors. Read more in this article: Inflation: Is this the real thing?

Leave the app

Recently it has been a lot easier spending too much time staring into a screen unnecessarily. That's why I have decided to delete all apps related to investing from my smartphone. The reason behind this is it makes me less compelled to look at my portfolio. And this makes my home screen as well as my brain less cluttered.

Without a doubt, removing these apps may initially feel uncomfortable but persistence is vital to ditch any habit. That's the same thing needed to keep unhealthy food away from home. By removing the 'cue', which is the app icon, I reduce the probability of such behavior (constant checking of the portfolio) happening. Setting daily time limits on app usage may be less effective.

Automate processes

In the many years I've ventured into investing, I have learned that I can't consistently time the market. As a result of this, a huge process of my buying is done automatically on the same day each month through my broker's regular investment scheme. This plays a huge role in eliminating emotion from the process. Better still, it helps to save money. Various online share-dealing platforms usually don't charge any commission on monthly purchases! With time, this may hugely impact my returns.

There's also another idea of minimalist investing - automate savings. It usually involves asking a bank to transfer a specific amount to a Stock and Shares ISA each month. Besides eliminating the need to do this manually, planning this transfer to take place the day after receiving payment also makes sure the future is prioritized rather than spending uselessly. There's a saying that goes, "Pay yourself first".

Don't read everything about it

Another way of adopting minimalist investing techniques is by reducing the amount of news consumed.

However, this idea is easy to say than actualize during this pandemic period. But, in my view, the important word remains to be 'reduce'. Trying to avoid viewing any news in one's life is difficult and may also cause anxiety. The best thing is to be selective.

For me, this means checking the news from two or three reputable sourcing and taking everything else as a rumor. If this seems restrictive to you, you may try avoiding your regular news binge until when the market is closed.

By Mark Adan

MarkAdanSEO@gmail.com

At Animuswebs.com, we specialise in content-led Online Marketing Strategies for our clients in the Marketing, Finance, Business industry and other sectors. With our professional writing team and our superb content creation programmes we achieve great marketing successes for our clients.

Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

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