My Favourite Stock Trading App

I started to become interested in the stock market over a year ago, around the time when the pandemic first started. The market had recently crashed, and I was looking for new opportunities to invest my money.

I’m not someone who wants the hassle of buying and selling every day (at least not at this time) but would instead like to put my money in and see it grow. I hate seeing my money sitting in a savings account and not doing anything, especially when there is so many opportunities out there to invest it.

Getting Started With Stocks

Wealthsimple came along one day in a random suggested YouTube video, so I watched. I inevitably went down a YouTube rabbit hole and stayed up way too late watching stock market videos, when I should have been getting my beauty sleep. I was more obsessed than I care to admit.

I signed up for an account, opened a TFSA, and deposited $250, just to try it out and see if I liked it. I bought a few stocks after researching companies and index funds, doing my due diligence, and a week later, my $250 was now worth $243. Sigh, not the return I was expecting, although I was determined to make it work.

I would later realize that I need more time in the market and an iron stomach to handle market fluctuations without selling off my stock portfolio in a panic. Or worse, throw my hands up and conclude that stock investing is lame and doesn’t work.

I deposited another, $250, then $1,000 to increase my exposure to more industries, and expand my portfolio. So by August 2020, my net deposits were at $1,500 into my TFSA, and the value of my portfolio was at $1,620.84. Maybe I’m a genius, maybe I got lucky, but either way, I was a pumped that I somehow managed to be in the green while being such a noobie. Plus, I was getting few bucks every month through dividends.

Fast forward to today, a year later in August 2021, and I’m happy to report that my portfolio is up 23% overall in just over a year. However, this was only possible because I set out goals for 2021 and determined what my investment philosophies were.

My Stock Investment Strategy

For 2021, my goal is to contribute $100 to my TFSA in Wealthsimple every single week, no exceptions. I treat it like a bill that must be paid. It doesn’t mean that I necessarily buy $100 worth of shares every week, but it means that I will deposit that into my TFSA. It can then stay in a cash position, ready to be invested, or I can expand some of the positions I have in my portfolio by buying more shares, depending on if the price is right.

I made it into a habit. Consistency is vital. I chose $100 for this year as an amount that isn’t going to make me struggle to pay bills, however, it is enough to help me avoid making silly purchases on items that I don’t really need while sitting dormant in my chequing account. This amount may be different for you, but honestly, weekly contributions has been a very lucrative strategy for me.

In 2022, I may decide to increase the weekly amount to $150 or $200 per week. We’ll see where things are at later this year.

My Investment Philosophies

• Invest Long Term – I do my best to think of companies which I think will grow over the next 2-10 years. I also spend time thinking about which companies are obviously going to be huge, just as the way that companies like Amazon and Shopify seem so obvious in retrospect.
  
  
• Diversify – I invest in industries that I understand, like tech and finance for more growth, while also having more safe categories like utilities and telecommunications. By diversifying your portfolio and having exposure to different companies, you’ll find that it is safer in case one industry experiences some turmoil.
  
  
• Discipline – weekly contributions every single week, no matter what. So every Monday morning, I make the transfer into my TFSA, and I track it on a spreadsheet and update my progress in a goals app. This keeps my investing steady and on track while limiting my temptation to buy something crazy or unnecessary on a whim and avoid any FOMO I might feel.
  
  
• Portfolio Split – I split my portfolio into thirds. 1/3 are dividend-focused ETF index funds that pay me monthly or quarterly dividends. 1/3 are companies that have products that I use and trust on a regular basis. The last 1/3 are growth stocks, or companies that have the potential for fast or large growth and appreciation.

Now let’s be honest. This past year hasn’t been the most common year, and some many stocks have been artificially propped up. So, it’s not like it will be like this every year. But I think these principles that I’ve laid out still have merit and can be incredibly useful when crafting your own strategy.

My hopes are that this article will help you start thinking about investing in yourself and your future, or even that you will share this with someone who could benefit from starting to invest in themselves.

Luckily, this Wealthsimple app made it very easy to get started as the interface and user experience was easy for me to understand and get used to the idea of investing in stocks. I would highly recommend it for beginners, and to those who want to invest using their TFSA.

🎁 Join Wealthsimple here, and receive the cash equivalent of two stocks, valued between $5 and $4,500, with an average of $15: Get Two Free Stocks

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