If you google the term ‘investment’, you will get millions of definition. Most of it relating to finance and in finance we mean allocating money in the expectation of gaining more. The return in finance is always in terms of money. So, basically investment is allocating something today to get benefit out of it tomorrow. I want to discuss and explore more in financial aspect but before we do I want to make sure we all are on the same page. Most of the people reading this must be knowing the term but they don’t know they have always been investors which they are not aware of. We all have been investors in our life, some knew and some didn’t. If we ask someone to invest money in financial market, he/she might hesitate a bit, thinking that they know nothing about investment and has never done before, then how they can do it now. But as a matter of fact, it is wrong. You have done investment before. May be you didn’t invest money earlier but time.

You invested time while studying when you were a student to get enrolled in best institution. You invested time on a person to have a better relation. You efficiently managed your time in office so that you can go home on time to enjoy personal leisure. When you can plan and invest a priceless thing (that is time) to have greater returns in terms of satisfaction and happiness then of course you are eligible to invest something that comes with a price to have a higher monetary return.

Now, comes the analyzing and planning part before investment. Remember while applying for the universities after your plus two, you must have gone through the ranking of the colleges while surfing through the internet or discussing with the people who have already gone through that phase. You note down the rank of the college, courses available, faculties, the place it is located, hostel facilities, average packages offered during placements and what not. You shortlist at least five colleges for application on the basis of the criteria that you prepare. There must be some colleges which you are sure of getting enrolled in and there might be some which you may not get because of low score or inability to pass the entrance exams. The risk is there. But when you get through the entrance exam and are able to get enroll in the top rank college then the level of achievement is high.

This is what investment is. You analyze the market, talk to the people who have already been investing in it, shortlist the stocks according to your choice and performance of the firm and then invest. Some funds guarantee you a return but some are risky. If you take that risk and the fund performs, you get a higher return. With great risk, comes the higher return. Hence, to invest in markets you need not to be financial expert. Little bit of analysis and discussion which you always did before taking any decision would do the wonder.