I always imagined that having a solid investment portfolio requires a lot of capital and a very strong financial position. When I was 28 years old I had progressed in my career to a point where I was making enough money to satisfy basic needs, owned a home and was able to set aside a little bit of my income for rainy days.

At that point I still didn’t think that I was ready to start investing, simply because I thought with the amount I have and I can contribute every month it would take forever to build a decent size portfolio that will actually help me build a more stable financial future.

You can start investing with little money. Investing in yourself doesn’t require a lot of capital, it just takes getting started. Here’s how I started investing with little money…

What happened next?

Through a casual conversation with a friend I addressed some of my concerns about investing. I then discovered that I wasn’t well informed of all that is available in the market and that I should really sit down and talk to a Financial Advisor. The very next morning I booked a meeting with one. After about an hour of conversation I realized two things:

  1. I don’t know what I don’t know, so it is always best to share my concerns with professionals in their field and let them do what they do best. 
  2. I don’t need a lot of capital (almost any) to start investing. All I need is good credit and a solid monthly financial plan.

It has been 6 years now and I am proud to share what happened since I met Andrei. I was introduced to the concept of “borrowing to invest”. I’ll break down the math of how everything worked out.

Please note that all of the numbers below are for illustration purposes only and that returns in the financial markets are never guaranteed.

However, this is my case:

I borrowed $200K to invest in 2012. I was servicing the interest on the loan every month at $668 (this number changed with the changes in the prime interest rate). I was not paying off any of the initial $200K I borrowed. All I did was service the interest.

In my first year I spent $8,016 in interest payments. This $8,016 was tax deductible, which in my case meant that I will get almost half of it back on my tax return. The gains I had in my first year on my investments were 12%. That is $24,000 in gains. At that point I had the option of withdrawing those $24,000 in order to service the interest. I chose not to and continued to service the interest on my own.

My investments have done well. 6 years later at an average of 11.4% return per year I now have $343K. This is without making any additional monthly contributions. If I decide to to payback the $200K back today and withdraw from my funds I’ll have 143K from 6 years of investing with borrowed capital. I have spent a little over $48,000 in servicing the loan. Which leaves me with almost 100K in gains after all is said and done.

Is borrowing to invest right for you?

Depending on the type of loan, interest rate, and your personal financial goals and objectives, borrowing to invest may be a strategy worth considering. My advice to all of you is to talk to a Financial Advisor early in your life and start building a portfolio using an investment loan before you hit the age of 30. Just remember, you don’t know what you don’t know, so share your concerns with professionals in their field and let them do what they do best.

You can start investing with little money, you don’t need a lot of capital and be in a very strong financial position. It’s never too late to start building a decent size portfolio that will help you build a more stable financial future. If borrowing to invest makes sense for you, start today by contacting AWealth for more details on the program.