If you’ve ever wanted to invest in stocks but been too overwhelmed, you’re not alone. In fact, you’re probably in the majority.
Learn More: How To Get a 10% Return on Investment (ROI): 10 Proven Ways
For You: These 10 Used Cars Will Last Longer Than an Average New Vehicle
Fortunately, you don’t need to be a certified genius to start investing. Investing can be made easier by following the advice of experts. In fact, Warren Buffett has some remarkably simple advice for busy people who want to invest but don’t have time to become market experts.
Here are Buffett’s best pieces of investing advice and some expert takes to help you start your investing journey.
“Consistently buy an S&P 500 low-cost index fund,” Buffett told CNBC in 2017.
And he wasn’t just talking — he put his money where his mouth is. Buffett has even instructed the trustee of his estate to invest 90% of his wife’s inheritance in these simple index funds, according to his 2013 letter to shareholders.
“Warren Buffett’s investment philosophy is underpinned by simplicity, patience and an appreciation for long-term wealth generation via low-cost, diversified assets,” said Thomas J. Brock, chartered financial analyst (CFA), certified public accountant (CPA) and an expert financial reviewer at Annuity.org.
With over 20 years of managing multibillion-dollar portfolios, Brock sees the wisdom in this approach.
Read Next: I’m a Financial Advisor: 4 Investing Rules My Millionaire Clients Never Break
The market goes up and down, but that shouldn’t be of concern. Buffett advised buying S&P 500 low-cost funds regardless.
“Keep buying it through thick and thin, and especially through thin,” Buffett told CNBC.
Always think rationally and avoid emotional decision-making, especially if the market is volatile. Just stay the course and know your investments are growing over time.
Think paying 1% in fees isn’t much? Think again!
“Costs really matter in investments,” Buffett told CNBC. “If returns are going to be 7% or 8% and you’re paying 1% for fees, that makes an enormous difference in how much money you’re going to have in retirement.”
At the 1999 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett shared this gem: “Start young… we started building this little snowball on top of a very long hill… The trick is to have a very long hill, which means either starting very young or living to be very old.”
Brock added, “For novice investors, Buffett’s most straightforward advice is to begin investing as early as possible, and do so via low-cost index funds that give you broad-based exposure to domestic and international stock markets.”