Even if you do not see it that way, throughout your life you have applied the basic concepts to invest. If you are a student you are investing time and attention to develop a skill. If you set up a business you are investing time and money because you expect to make a profit in the future. In simple terms investing is giving up a profit today with the aim of achieving a greater benefit in the future.
You may wonder what the difference is between
Save and invest. To save is to save resources for some time to finally destine them to consumption while investing is putting those resources to work to make them grow. Can you achieve long-term goals by just saving? No, because with the passage of time money loses its value, that is, it reaches you to buy fewer things, this due to the increase of prices: inflation. Making your money do not lose its value and make it grow, is only possible through investment.
To take your first steps in this field, an option is funds or investment companies that are within reach of almost any pocket. A fund brings together the money of a group of small and medium-sized investors and invests it per the decisions of a team of experts in investment instruments more profitable than traditional banking products, but also involves taking some risks, hence the need to Make a careful selection.
One of the advantages is that companies invest in a diversified way, that is, in different instruments and terms. They are looking to reduce risk and increase performance.
Since investing involves making decisions, it is important to have items on hand to help us do it in the best possible way. A good place to learn to do this is the investment fund workshop of BBVA Adelante program, launched at the end of April. You do not have to be a bank customer to participate, and you can do it from your home (with the online version) or at any of the bank branches that have it available to the public.
Uriel
We talked with the Director of the program, Uriel Galicia Negrete: “this new workshop, the seventh we launch, begins by clearly explaining three essential concepts for anyone who wants to get closer to the investment world: performance, risk and investment horizon, and How do they relate to each other”.
Explained in simple language and designed for people to develop basic financial skills, the workshop looks for three things: “First, let people know and can explain what the investment is. Second, to know and determine the investor profile of each one. And third, that each participant can design an investment strategy that allows him to make the best decisions. ”
He adds: “We want to further socialize the use of investment funds. And this must do with what financial education from our point of view, is the key, because a product that is not understood, is not consumed. ”
Thus, the goal of the program workshops can be summarized in one sentence: in addition to understanding, the participants must know how to do. Galicia explains why this format was chosen: “Speaking of financial education for adults, the first step is to work on the conscience of people.
That translates into a benefit for your portfolio. Then we can take an additional step and share knowledge with people, it is better than just raising awareness but also seems to us an insufficient step, the finished product is to go from mere knowing to know how to do, that is, people transform their attitudes and Acquire knowledge, but above all apply that knowledge to improve your personal financial situation. That is why we are interested in creating workshops because it is the only way we go the whole way. ”
Investing is for everyone
With this are already seven themes that touch the workshops offered by the program Adelante with your future. Like the others, the Investment Funds workshop begins with a video that sensitizes the participants about the reasons why it is necessary to strengthen their knowledge and skills in the subject. The topics are then approached with the support of a booklet and an instructor when the workshops are taken in person. From what is the investment and the key ideas to invest, until the participants determine, with a simple questionnaire of seven questions, what is their investor profile. On the next page, we share with you this questionnaire so that you discover what kind of investor you are.
Even though in Mexico the use of investment funds has been growing steadily in recent years, both in amounts and in clients, we still have a very large way to go: “investment funds are an alternative that is not Only for people who have many resources. It is much more within reach than we think. ”
what
For this reason, a second theme touches investment funds from the basics: “We make an analogy with the avocado market and we end up landing it in the stock market,” he says. “The topics that follow are what is an investment fund? How does it work? Then the goal is for participants to learn how to compare and choose the most appropriate investment, what are the different types of investment and what characterizes each one. ” In addition, interactive and calculators are used to apply the knowledge and thus improve your personal financial situation.