By Jeannie D
As most of you know, I usually buy shoes not shares, but that was before I made the #jeannieous decision to use my Shyft app to invest in 500 of the world’s biggest companies.
You see, when I heard that US stock markets gained around 25% last year, I decided to get in on the action and up my investment game. And no, that didn’t mean rushing out to buy shares in all my favourite shoe brands (although it was tempting). Instead, in a moment of pure Adulting – and on the advice of my financial advisor – I researched Exchange Traded Funds (or ETFs) and picked one called iShares Core that is invested in the S&P 500.
Why invest in an ETF instead of a single company? As a rookie investor, I felt safer doing it this way because the S&P 500 that iShares Core is invested in tracks the 500 largest companies in the US.
In normal English, that simply means that I decreased my risk because by buying even one unit, my investment has been diversified across lots of different – but stable – mega-companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, Meta, Nvidia, and more.
Here’s how I did it:
- On the Shyft app Globalview, scroll down to Shares then choose the location of where the company or ETF you want to buy is listed (I chose the US)
- Press the Buy Now button.
- You’ll see 👀 the list of US Shares on the left and the list of ETFs on the right. Choose ETF
- Search “S&P 500 tracking funds” – there’s a large number to choose from but I chose the first one listed, iShares Core, because just look at the green line going up…
- Open up the Instrument Details, click Buy, choose the amount of Shares you want to purchase and continue.
- Accept the Investor Declaration and Confirm.
- Input your SA tax number but that takes two ticks, and then BOOM! you’re the proud owner of shares in 500 of the world’s biggest companies.
Jeannieous, right? Become investment savvy by downloading the Shyft app and buying ETFs. It’s relatively low-risk and interesting to then track the movement of your new investment. The profit of which, of course, I’ll be spending on shoes!
