Start small and build your wealth, says financial expert
Delories Jones, senior vice-president, sales and marketing, JN Fund Managers, has dismissed the claim that persons need to have a lot of money to invest.
“I’m here to tell you that is not actually so. You can start on that road of investment with as little as J$5,000,” she pointed out.
She made the disclosure while addressing a financial empowerment session organised by the JN Foundation in collaboration with JN member companies, JN Life Insurance Company Limited and JN Fund Managers. The session was delivered to employees of The Jamaica National Group recently.
“What we are saying to you at JN Fund Managers, we offer a range of investment options that suit every single person,” she said.
Jones informed that JN Fund Managers’ investment options span both the local and global markets. This, she said, includes equities in local and international markets. She advised that the company also offers repurchase agreements (better known as repos), where persons can invest in Government of Jamaica securities.
“We can build our wealth by starting small. What it does for us as individuals is that it gives us a chance to achieve the many goals we have in life. But if we keep procrastinating by saying, ‘I’m waiting until I get a salary increase’, among other things, five years from now we will be where we started, so it is important that we start investing now,” she said.
Addressing the question ‘When is the best time to invest?’, Jones pointed out that there is no better time than the present, noting that there are also opportunities in crises. She urged persons not to join the crowd to buy stocks when the prices are high.
“Invest when you can, buy on discount when stock prices are low so that when the stock prices rebound and are peaking, you are up there. So, whatever climate it is, it is always a good time to invest,” she said.
The session was held in April to close out Financial Literacy Month. The theme of the session was ‘Securing the Financial Future You and Your Family Deserve. What You Can and Should do Now’. Other members of the panel were Rose Miller, manager, Strategic Empowerment, and Hugh Reid, general manager, JN Life Insurance Company Limited.
