Where I would invest $10k

In 2022, my investing strategy remains largely the same, despite the constantly changing economic environment and world around us. Actually, 90% of my portfolio is fairly boring because I invest in low-cost ETFs that give me a diversified portfolio of Australian and international companies, plus some real estate, bonds and cash.

And boring is good. In investing, boring gets the job done (it’s taken me years to realise I don’t need to keep overcomplicating my investment strategy).

Here are some of my easy wins for investing when life feels uncertain:

• Write down your investing goals and reasons for investing in each company or ETF, or why you’re adding extra to super. Put this document where you can easily refer to it in times of volatility, fear or FOMO.

• Remove your micro-investing and brokerage apps from your phone. This doesn’t mean stop investing. But removing the apps will stop you from making impulsive decisions and deviating from your plan without properly thinking through your actions.

• Reduce the noise you allow into your life. Don’t let the media headlines and notifications alter your strategy, without taking the time to properly do your research to work out if anything has changed in your original investment case. Genuinely actionable news is extremely rare.

• Stay humble. It’s easy to start overestimating your skills and knowledge once you’re further into your investing journey, but that’s when you can start making mistakes. Keep your strategy simple, don’t try to outsmart the professionals (or your colleagues, if you’re a professional).