If one of your quarter life realizations happen to be investing for your future and catering your financial needs - do not fret, STOCK TRADING/INVESTING might be for you!
I studied and graduated in school without much of a "life plan" I had my first job when I was 20 and didn't really think through my spendings and savings. Only lately I've realized that I got so much potential than in just living paycheck after paycheck. I had a friend who got into this stock market thingy, and I got curious since I've learned this from a subject in college and never got to really practice and experience it myself. (Hahaha) Anyway, she introduced me to this site Colfinancial.com an online stock trading platform which acts as a broker for stocks and other mutual funds. If you're unfamiliar with stocks, bonds, and the stock market you can search it on Google, watch YouTube videos about it, read stock trading books, and also learn through Colfinancial's website. Stocks are basically shares from a company. Once you buy a stock you become a shareholder of a company (but don't mistake it as "owning" the said company, you're not entitled to the company's decision making though - you can learn more of this as you engage in the stock market); you can then earn dividends from the stocks you bought, or sell it higher depending on the market value of the shares you've bought. Stocks have the highest risk more than any other investments yet it also has the highest "potential" return if traded and invested wisely. So I thought to myself, why not learn the basics of stock trading? I'm sure it isn't rocket science. Plus I got nothing to lose anyway (considering I quit my day job. Hehe)
So yeah, I signed up and made an account. The COL Starter Account which only requires a minimum investment of P5,000 - it's called minimum investment because no fees are charged upon opening of the account, you basically get to invest the whole P5,000 for yourself. Fees are only made when you trade stocks - buy/sell. Here are the following accounts to choose from, if you're in a tight budget you can choose P5,000 for now, COL PLUS Account requires a minimum P25,000 investment, while if you're a premier investor COL PREMIUM might be for you which requires P1M minimum investment, here are some points to consider for choosing the right account for you:
Next step is to download and fill up the application forms using the link below:
https://www.colfinancial.com/ape/Final2/home/pdfs/Individual%20Forms%20complete.pdf
After filling up the forms, attached at least one (1) valid Government issued ID
So yeah, I signed up and made an account. The COL Starter Account which only requires a minimum investment of P5,000 - it's called minimum investment because no fees are charged upon opening of the account, you basically get to invest the whole P5,000 for yourself. Fees are only made when you trade stocks - buy/sell. Here are the following accounts to choose from, if you're in a tight budget you can choose P5,000 for now, COL PLUS Account requires a minimum P25,000 investment, while if you're a premier investor COL PREMIUM might be for you which requires P1M minimum investment, here are some points to consider for choosing the right account for you:
Next step is to download and fill up the application forms using the link below:
https://www.colfinancial.com/ape/Final2/home/pdfs/Individual%20Forms%20complete.pdf
After filling up the forms, attached at least one (1) valid Government issued ID
- Passport
- Voters ID
- Driver's License
- UMID ID
Together with the forms, send it to COL Business Centers and wait for them to receive it.
They'll email you to confirm your account and then give you your account number for you to fund within I think 60 days from the email. After funding your account, COLFinancial will then give your password (make sure to change it immediately) and you're good to go! You can manage your own portfolio - speculate on the stocks you like or would like to buy. If you're a newbie like me free virtual stock trading platforms such as Investagrams will be a very good start. Remember your returns depend on you, profits are not guaranteed on the stock market. Be aware and make sure that you have at least the basic knowledge before putting all your eggs in the basket. 😇