An investment is the process of putting aside money to start or expand a project, or purchase an asset or even interest, big or small, with the guaranteed goal of making an additional increased income over time. According to our experts, no investment is too small, which can reap big rewards. Anyone can start at any time, and Mpowa Finance recommends following the 6 simple yet effective steps below:

There are many South Africans that are not happy with their credit score, for whatever the case, and therefore are missing out on opportunities to better their lives. Improving your credit scores is not impossible but it does take some time, but there is no time like the present so let’s get your credit scores up!

We want to give you a few tips that can help bring your score up and help you plan for a better future. The following actions, over time, will improve your scores:

• 1. Set investment goals - What do you want to get out of your investment, besides making a profit obviously. These can include income, capital appreciation and safety of capital. Age, personal circumstances and financial position play a part.

• 2. Invest early - The sooner you start the less money is required yearly to achieve your goals mentioned above. Your earningings will compound over time, so don’t be afraid to start investing, even if you are a student or in your prime.

• 3. Can you afford it - Take a deep look at your finances and see how much money you are able to invest. You don’t want to leave yourself short of paying other important bills.

• 4. Automatic investments - Setting aside an amount of money to be invested each month, automatically, is a good way to invest as it helps avoiding stalling and to consistently invest, this can be done through various brokerage firms and investment services.

• 5. Be aware of high commissions - Professionals may talk you into buying investments with high commission for themselves, so do your homework.

• 6. Diversify your investments - The market fluctuates a lot and to avoid losing money when they go down, make sure you have a diversified portfolio. This will allow you to have some stocks that are rising, even when others are falling. Another option could be to invest in overseas markets.

Investing requires discipline, as the saying goes what you put in you get out… but with more! Just like most important factors in life, financial stability fulfils your long term needs. It can only help to have a safety net for when times are hard and unforeseen circumstances arise. The only time we would recommend taking out a cash loan or personal loan for investment purposes, is when the return on the loan is high and the risk level of the investment is low. This is known as “invest a loan”, ensure that the loan is not due before the investment matures and its important that the return on investment is greater than the cost of the loan. Mpowa Finance offers same day, Instant decision on, payday cash loans of up to R8000.