The writer believes that since the bear market from March 2020, a lot more people know the importance of investing, where they can generate passive income even when their primary job is not operating. That being said, is earning money in the market means that you are investing? No, you may be trading or speculating but still able to earn some money. From that, why do we need to focus on investing where there are other methods that can earn money in a shorter time?

We need to first relate back why people would like to invest. The reason people started to invest is to create a secondary income through dividend payment, and that is why a lot of old-school investors quite emphasize on a company’s dividend yield. However, so called “investors” these days will only want their stocks to shoot up the sky once they bought the shares. The writer talked a lot about mind-set previously, and that’s exactly the wrong mind-set that people nowadays possess.

The newer traders and speculators will always put all their money in their stock market, sell it, cash out and spend the money. However, a wiser investor will first manage their money and income, trying to save as much as possible on daily basis so that they will have extra money to invest into the market. Then, they will allow the money to roll bigger and bigger over time, while still receiving some dividends. That way, they can enjoy both dividend income and capital gain income when they eventually sell their shares. Hence, the newcomer should first determine how much money they are willing to invest, then only they manage that amount of money in the market.

Let say you planned to invest RM10k, but because you invest all in one stock and that share dropped 20%, then you put in another RM10k to average down your cost. That’s the wrong way. A wiser way would be to invest RM10k in stock market, but only spend RM4k on a stock, and if they dropped to a new low, spend another RM4k to average down the cost. The remaining RM2k will be left to further average down the price, or finding other opportunities from other stocks.

In short, investing is not about immediate profit, but is to build your overall wealth overtime, while receiving some income from dividend payment. Trying to invest with a trading mind-set will affect your decision as you are unable to stand firm. Hence, you shall always remember to first adjust your mind-set, manage your income or money, and then manage your investment portfolio.

笔者相信自从2020年3月的熊市后，很多人了解了投资的重要性，毕竟它可以在你的主业无法运作的时候给你带来第二收入来源。即便如此，那是否意味着只要在股市赚钱就是在投资呢？非也，你即使是在交易或者投机都有机会赚钱的。那么有人会问，当你还有别的方法来赚钱的时候，为什么要去投资？

要回答这个问题，我们首先要知道人为什么投资。人投资的主要原因是从股息创造第二个收入来源，而这也是为什么很多旧时代的投资者比较看重公司的股息收益率。但是，现在称自己为“投资者”的人都只希望自己在买了一只股后便可以一飞冲天。笔者之前说了很多关于心态的文章，而这就是一个现在的人所有的错误心态。

那些比较新的交易者和投机者会把他们所有的钱投进一只股里面，卖出，把钱拿出来并且花掉。但是，一个比较聪明的投资者会先管理它们的现金以及收入，试着把平时所用的钱减少，这样才会有更多的钱来投进股市。然后，它们便会把这笔钱越滚越大，并且时不时收到股息。这样，他们便能同时享受到股息和股价上涨后卖出的收入。因此，新手应该要先决定要投入多少的资金进股市，才管理那些已经被投入了的钱财。

假设你要投入一万令吉，但是你已经把所有的钱都投资在一只股上，所以在那只股跌了20%后，你只能从银行里面再拿出一万令吉来拉低你的平均价。这个其实是错误的做法。比较好的做法会是你投入了一万令吉进股市，但是只是先花了四千令吉在一只股上。当股价下滑时，你可以再用四千令吉来拉低你的平均价，而剩余的两千令吉你可以留来再次拉低平均价或者在别的股寻找新机会。

总结，投资要看到的不是现在的赚幅，而是慢慢地建造你的组合和财富，并同时收获一点股息。如果你要用交易的心态来投资，那么你很难在市场上做决定，毕竟连你自己都不清楚自己的立场和向往。因此，你应该时常调整自己的心态，管理自己的收入和钱财，再管理你的投资组合。

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