When to Start Investing: A Beginner's Guide

You know when the best time to invest is? 10 years ago. You didn’t? That’s cool. But short of using a time machine to remedy that, you should absolutely start investing today…or tomorrow…basically just as soon as you possibly can.

Though it makes for a great movie plot or daydream, getting rich overnight just isn’t a responsible life plan. The alternative is investing. Ever hear that old saying — that comedy is just tragedy plus time? Security and wealth follow a similar formula. Wealth is just a regular investment plus time. A little money invested for a long period of time will grow like crazy through something called compounding — the term for the miraculous way that if you leave your money alone and allow all growth to be reinvested, before long what was once a snowball-sized investment will build to snowman torso proportions.

Investments can be made with specific goals in mind, perhaps a future real estate purchase, a child’s university tuition, or your own retirement security, and what you intend to do with the money will dictate what kinds of accounts you should open. Retirement accounts like RRSPs and RESP education savings accounts, for instance, offer incredible tax benefits but should only be used for those specific purposes. Whatever your investment goals, Wealthsimple can help you out by steering your towards our absolute favourite compounding engines — low-fee ETFs that will allow you to experience the natural, regular growth of the domestic and global economy. In order to open an account, you must be you must be the age of majority in your province or territory. (Like in Ontario, it's commonly age 18.) But even precocious kid investors can get a head start with the help of a trust account opened by mom, dad, or a guardian.

If all this talk about investing has you eager to start, now might be a good time to join Wealthsimple. We offer state of the art technology, low fees and the kind of personalized, friendly service you might have not thought imaginable from an automated investing service. Get started investing in a matter of minutes.