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By Eli Graft
As I’ve gotten older, I have become more and more interested in investing and wealth management in general. I am at the point in my life where I realized that saving for the future and investing your money into growing assets is the best way to be prepared for raising a family and eventual retirement. Ambition isn’t the only thing you need when it comes to investments. You need to have a solid plan with little risk if you want to see any capital gains to your portfolio. I am taking a Finance class this semester called Investments and it has only helped me hone the skills of trading that I so desperately need.
When I was investing on my own with little to no knowledge, I was seeing days with massive payoffs and other days where I was dropping cash down the drain. Now that I have a better understanding of how to create an optimal portfolio, I have been able to make steady gains that will only continue to grow. When I first started, I was bullish, buying stocks in companies that I had heard of and knew were making developmental strides. Now I’ve become more of a bear than a bull, choosing to only buy stocks that I know are valuable and have steady growth potential. But I still need a lot of help when it comes to seeking Alpha, the point of growth even when the market is stagnant.
So far, I’ve only invested in major US companies, ETFs, and foreign companies. I have my own investment strategy; however, I have been learning more about ways to refine that strategy as well as gaining the tools to better analyze markets and individual stocks. I plan to soon start investing in more assets that can help me lower my overall risk.
The stock market as a whole is a difficult system to fully understand. The Investments class I mentioned earlier has only shown me the vast array of risks that investing has and the factors you must analyze before even considering buying or selling a stock or bond. These factors range from political to medical and everything in between. Knowing when the factors line up for you to make a stock purchase takes years of practice and knowledge of market trends, and I have only just gotten started on my path. One day, I plan on having the knowledge to maximize my portfolio and maybe even help others on their journey through a career as a Financial Advisor. Only time will tell.
Eli Graft is a McConnell Scholar in the Class of 2021. He is studying business and political science at the University of Louisville.