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00:00As someone who has been investing for eight years, if I was starting from scratch today,
00:04no investments, no portfolio, just a blank slate, here's exactly how I'd do it. I have made my fair
00:10share of rookie mistakes when I first started. And if I could go back, I would do some things
00:15very, very differently. So in this video, I wanted to walk you through the seven key steps I would
00:21take if I was starting to invest from scratch today. By the end of this video, you'll know
00:26exactly how to A, build unshakable confidence as a new investor, B, avoid the traps that trip up
00:33most beginners, and C, have set yourself up for real financial freedom starting right now.
00:38And by the way, if investing is your main priority in 2026, I'm hosting my second completely free
00:44live workshop in less than a few weeks, teaching you everything from how to invest, what to invest
00:49in, in even more detail than I'm going to go through in the next 15 minutes. It's completely
00:54free. You can sign up at nisha.me forward slash invest, or click the link in the description
00:58to sign up before the doors close. So starting with step one, and that is get your financial
01:03house in order. Here's a stat that might surprise you. Nearly 40% of adults can't cover a $400
01:10emergency without borrowing money. And this is the kind of thing that makes investors fail
01:16before they've even started. Because if your car breaks down, or your boiler explodes, or life
01:20just happens, and you don't have cash set aside, you'll be forced to pull money out of your
01:26investments at potentially the worst possible time. That's why if I was starting from scratch
01:31today, I wouldn't open up an investment account or buy any stocks until I got the basics right.
01:36It's so easy when you start investing to make the classic mistake of thinking you could skip
01:41this step, especially when you have people around you who are well on their way to making six
01:46figure or having six figure portfolios, or you see loads of YouTube videos with other people in
01:51their portfolios, which are six or seven figures. And sometimes it makes you feel like you're so
01:56desperate to catch up with these other people that you start throwing as much money as you can
02:00into the stock market, not just from your income, but from your savings too. And then you end up buying
02:05stocks with money you can't really afford to lose. And when you do that, if you don't really know what
02:10you're doing and the market dips, it's so easy to panic, sell too early, lose confidence, and then
02:16being at a worse place than you were to start with. So if I was investing for the first time,
02:21knowing
02:21what I know now, there are three things I would make sure before I even start investing. Number one,
02:26I'll clear any high interest debt like credit cards, store cards, personal loans, because investing in
02:31the stock market when you have expensive debts, it's like filling a hot water bottle with a hole in it.
02:35The water is your money, the hot water bottle is your investment account, and that
02:40hole is your debts. Credit cards will often have interest rates of between 20 to 40%. Sometimes
02:46it can even be higher than that. Over the past 100 years though, the average stock market return
02:51has been around 8 to 10% annually based on the S&P 500 market index. You probably see where
02:57I'm going
02:57with this. You keep investing more and more money, but at the same time, you're losing money faster
03:02than your investments can grow and getting burned in the process. You always want to clear off your high
03:08interest rate debt before you start to invest. You will be financially better off by doing so.
03:13Number two, I'd build an emergency fund. You want at least three to six months of essential expenses,
03:18any high interest or high yield savings account that's easy to access. If you really are so keen
03:24to start investing straight away, this might not be the thing you want to hear, but it is an essential
03:28step on your road to financial freedom because it'll help you sleep soundly at night and make better
03:33decisions when you're finally ready to start investing. And then number three, I'll make sure
03:38my income and spending are stable. That means just knowing exactly how much I can invest every month
03:43without putting myself under pressure. Because the thing is, when your basic financial needs are
03:47covered, you can actually stay calm during market dips because you don't have this urge to sell.
03:52You can ride out any chaos and you could just let time do the heavy lifting for your investments.
03:57So if you are at a stage where you're paying off debt or building that emergency buffer,
04:01don't see it as delaying your investing journey. Just see it as level one of your wealth building
04:06plan because once your financial house is in order, you'll be ready to start investing with
04:11confidence and actually stay invested long enough to see real results. Step two, that is define your
04:17goals and time horizon. Less than a third of investors have any specific long-term goals in mind when
04:24investing according to a survey of 1,000 investors done by the FCA. And honestly, that doesn't really
04:29surprise me. A lot of people start investing because they've just heard it is the smart thing
04:34or the right thing to do, but they never really step back to think about what they're investing
04:38for. They might open an investing app. They might pick a few random funds, maybe a trending stock or
04:43two, and they just hope for the best. Then if the market dips, they hear rumors of a crash on
04:48the news
04:48or they need money for a short-term expense, they sell. So if I was starting from scratch today,
04:53the first question I would ask myself is what am I actually investing for? Is it to retire early?
04:59Is it to help me buy my dream home? Is it to travel the world? Because your goals will dictate
05:05everything from the type of account you use, the amount of risk you take, and how you handle the
05:10inevitable ups and downs along the way. I've got an upcoming video on what to invest in depending on
05:16your life goals because different assets are better depending on how long you're investing for.
05:21That is coming up in one of the upcoming weeks. So make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss
05:24it. When it comes to what you should be saving in cash and what to invest, so first consider your
05:29short-term goals. If you need the money within the next five years, say for a house deposit or another
05:35big life event, keep that money in cash. Investments tend to outperform savings in the long term,
05:40but in the short term, it can be a bumpy ride. Next, you've got your medium to long-term goals,
05:45which I consider to be five years plus away. With those goals, invest it because the longer your money
05:50stays invested, the more the short-term fluctuations in the stock market even out and the higher your
05:56chances of building real wealth. So for example, we can see how much better an investment in global
06:01shares will have performed than cash since 2000 in this graph here. There's been a huge difference
06:06in performance over the last five years alone. Between 30th April 2020 to 2025, 2,666 invested in global
06:15shares grew to 4,926, while 1,508 in cash grew to just 1,714 over the same period. That
06:26is why you
06:26want to keep your long-term savings in investments. By the way, we're going to cover how to invest in
06:32the rest of the video, but there is so much more to it that takes far longer than 15 minutes.
06:37So if you
06:37want to take this even further, I'm hosting a completely free live workshop on 11th of January,
06:432026. I held this workshop in November and over 35,000 people registered. And we asked people to
06:49fill in a survey afterwards where 96% of people said they felt so much more confident about what
06:55to invest in and how to invest and actually took action after this workshop. So I'm hosting it again
07:01completely for free. You can sign up at nichia.me forward slash invest. I'll walk you through how to
07:07invest and how to choose what to invest in, how to accelerate your investment returns over time,
07:12the single biggest mistake new investors make and how to avoid it, and also how to calculate what you
07:18need to eventually live off your investments. Again, it's 100% free. You can sign up at nichia.me
07:24forward slash invest anytime before the doors close. Now let's get to step three, and that is choosing
07:31an investment account. This is where most people get stuck. There are so many types of investment
07:37accounts that it is so easy to fall into analysis paralysis here. You start researching one and then
07:43another and then another, and then before you know it, you've done hours of scrolling, but you haven't
07:47actually opened up anything. And I can see why this happens because from the outside, investing seems
07:53really, really complicated and like something you might even need a degree in. But in reality, once you've
07:58laid your financial foundations and you're clear on your goals, the next step is surprisingly simple,
08:04and that is open investment account and put money in it. That's it. You don't need a finance degree.
08:09You don't need a job in the stock market. You just need to take that very first small step and
08:13suddenly
08:13you're 90% there of becoming an investor. The best part is you can literally do this in minutes
08:19entirely from your phone. So which investment account should you go for? The answer, and I know you
08:24don't like this answer, but it depends on your goals and where you live. And here's what I'd do
08:29if I was starting from scratch this year. So first, if I was employed, I'd make the most of my
08:34workplace
08:34pension. Exactly how they work depends on your country, where you live and the company that you
08:39work for. But usually you'll find that your employer will contribute too, and you'll get some
08:43sort of tax advantage. If your company's also contributing, you absolutely must utilize that.
08:49The downside, of course, is that you usually won't be able to access your money until retirement.
08:53So if you need that money sooner, then anything after the match might not be the right option
08:58for you. If you're self-employed, look for a private retirement account. With this, you'll
09:03still be able to save for retirement in a tax-efficient way, but the difference is you
09:07won't have help from an employer. Then I'd open a tax-free or a tax-advantaged investment
09:12account. Normally, when you invest and make money, say through dividends, interest, or selling
09:18something for a profit, you have to pay tax on those gains. But when you invest through
09:23a tax-advantaged account, all of that growth stays as yours. You don't have to pay any tax
09:29on the profits, which can make a huge difference over time. Exactly how these accounts work will
09:35vary depending on where you live. In the UK, this is called a stocks and shares ISA. In Canada,
09:39they have a similar option called a tax-free savings account, which is a TFSA. And if you're
09:44based somewhere else, it's worth checking whether your country has a version of this because
09:48getting those tax benefits can really accelerate your long-term returns.
09:52Then, step four, start small but be consistent. Here's something that people always get really
09:58surprised at. If you invest just $100 a month and earn an average annual rate of return of
10:038% to 10% a year, I say average because that is what the historical rate of return has
10:07been,
10:07looking at the S&P 500 for a 10 to 20-year timeline, you will have more than $140,000
10:14after 30 years.
10:15And you will have only contributed $36,000 yourself. The rest of the money will be basically
10:21profit. That is all down to compound interest, which is basically when your investments start
10:26earning returns. And then those returns start earning their own returns. And over time,
10:31it creates this snowball effect where your money begins growing faster and faster without you
10:36lifting a finger. So to show you what that actually looks like, you can watch this video
10:39right here, which goes into a lot more detail on compounding. But to give you an overview,
10:43if you invest $100 and it grows by 8% in the first year, you'll end up with $108,000,
10:48meaning you've earned $8,000 in interest. In the second year, $108,000 grows by another 8%,
10:52which gives you $116.64. Your money keeps working for you without adding anything new.
10:58Repeat that process year after year and it's amazing how quickly your wealth can snowball.
11:03The thing is, most people never get that far because they're scared of getting things wrong.
11:07In a survey from Barclays, 44% of respondents said a lack of knowledge was the main factor
11:14stopping them from investing. And 41% said they were scared of losing money. If you feel the same
11:20way, I understand why. If you've never invested before, the stock market can seem really technical
11:25and really intimidating. But if you start small and you're consistent, and most importantly,
11:31you follow the next tip, you're very unlikely to actually lose money over the long run. And that
11:36leads me to step five, which is diversification. So let's imagine one of your New Year's resolutions
11:42is to eat a more balanced diet. You wouldn't then fill your plate with just pasta or just salad or
11:48nothing but chicken. You'd mix it up a bit. So you're full, you have lots of energy, you get all
11:54the right nutrients. If you only eat one type of food, you might start feeling a bit sluggish or a
11:59bit unstable and you'll struggle to meet those health and fitness goals. Investing works in a pretty
12:05similar way. If your entire portfolio is made up of just one type of investment, say tech stocks or
12:11crypto, it might look exciting, but it's not exactly balanced. And when that one industry or that one
12:17company takes a hit, it throws everything off course. That's where diversification comes in.
12:24It's the financial equivalent of having a balanced plate. You want a mix of investments that work
12:29together. So if one performs badly, the others can help keep things stable. So if I was starting
12:36from scratch today, I'd keep it very, very simple. Rather than trying to guess which companies would
12:40perform best, I would invest in index funds. This is simply a collection of investments that track the
12:47performance of a whole market like the S&P 500, which includes 500 of the biggest companies in the US.
12:54So instead of betting on one company doing well, you're automatically investing in all of them all
13:00at once. And the great thing about index funds is that they make it really easy to diversify your
13:06portfolio in a cost-effective way. With one simple investment, you can get exposure to hundreds or even
13:13thousands of companies across different sectors like technology, healthcare, finance, energy, and more.
13:18That way, your returns aren't tied to the fate of a single stock or a single industry.
13:23You never really know which part of your portfolio will do best, but by holding a mix of assets,
13:28you don't really need to. The winners offset the losers. And over time, that balance helps you
13:32grow steadily without lying awake at night wondering whether you're going to lose all your money.
13:37Step six, automate and simplify everything. Apparently, the secret to great investing is doing
13:42nothing. Fidelity once found that their best performing funds were the people who'd either forgotten
13:49that they had an account or they had passed away. And that's a funny thing about investing. The people
13:54who check their portfolios the least often tend to make the most amount of money. Now, I'm not saying
14:00you should forget about your investments and completely forget that they exist, but it goes to
14:04show that the less you tinker, the better you'll usually do. So if I was starting from scratch today,
14:10I would automate as much as possible. What does that mean? That means setting up a monthly transfer
14:15from my bank straight to my investment account, ideally straight after payday before the money has
14:20a chance to get spent on anything else. This does two things. First, it makes investing consistent.
14:25You're not relying on willpower or timing. It just happens automatically. And second, it protects
14:31you from your emotions. When the markets drop, you don't have to decide whether to keep investing.
14:37The system does it for you. So think of it this way. When you automate your investing and you avoid
14:42all the doubt and the fear that comes with investing, you won't waste time thinking,
14:46oh, is now a good time to buy? Or maybe I should wait until after the next election.
14:51Instead, you'll be investing without having to think about it. You'll be able to get on with your life
14:56while your portfolio continues to grow in the background. Many platforms let you set up a
15:01regular investment plan into your chosen fund each month. So you don't have to log in and overthink it
15:06and accidentally talk yourself out of doing anything. In fact, some of these investment platforms are
15:10linked in the description below with these simplicity wins in the long run. Some of the
15:15best investors don't spend their days analyzing charts or watching market news. They spend their
15:20time just not really thinking about it because the goal isn't to outsmart the market. It's to build a
15:26system that keeps you investing no matter what the market's doing. And the beauty of automation
15:31is that it lets you do exactly that consistently, quietly, without any of the stress.
15:37And step seven, I would learn to stay calm when the market drops. The stock market has crashed 19 times
15:44in the past 150 years. And every single time it's recovered and gone on to reach new highs.
15:52The problem is that when it happens to you, it never really feels like that. You're not going to
15:58think about this bigger picture. You're just going to watch your balance drop and wonder if you've just
16:03made a huge mistake. This chart right here is from Morningstar and it maps out more than a century of
16:09stock market history. The Great Depression, the dot-com bubble, the global financial crisis, even the
16:15COVID crash. Some of these declines wiped out more than half the market's value. But what's incredible
16:22is what happens after each one. The market always bounces back, often higher than ever before.
16:28It took 18 months for the market to recover from the 2021 downturn. The COVID crash took just four
16:35months. That's the fastest recovery in history. It probably felt like a lifetime for new investors
16:42when they were in it. Even after the Great Depression, the worst crash ever recorded, investors
16:48who stuck with it eventually saw their portfolio recover and grow many times over. When you zoom out
16:55and you look at this chart, those terrifying red dips, they start to look like just tiny speed bumps
17:02on a long climb upwards. When you're in the moment and you're staring at a sea of red on your
17:09phone or
17:10laptop, you go into crisis mode. And when I first started investing, I used to panic every single
17:14time the market stopped. I thought I made a huge mistake just by investing. But what I learned is that
17:20the market rewards patience, not panic. And this is exactly why everything we've talked about so far
17:26matters so much. Like having an emergency fund, setting your clear goals, consistently investing,
17:31having a diversified portfolio. Those steps that we spoke about first, they give you the confidence
17:36to stay invested when everyone else is losing theirs. So if I was starting from scratch today,
17:42that is exactly how I'd do it. I'd get my financial foundation in place. I'd define my goals. I'd pick
17:48the
17:48right account. I'd start small. I'll diversify my investments, automate the process. And most
17:53importantly, I would learn to stay calm when things get messy. Because you don't need a six-figure salary
17:59or a finance degree to invest. It is in fact the type of thing you learn while doing it. You
18:04probably
18:04will make some mistakes along the way. But as long as you stay invested, you keep learning, and you focus
18:10on the long term, those mistakes won't define your results. If you found this video helpful, you will
18:16definitely enjoy an upcoming video that I have on the different asset classes and how they all work
18:21to define your perfect investment mix. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss it. And feel
18:26free to share this with anyone else who's been thinking about starting their resting journey too.
18:30And always, thank you so much for watching, and I hope to see you next week.
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