Wednesday, April 30, 2008

How to avoid losing money in unit trust investment?

There are few golden rules in avoiding losing money in unit trust investment:

1) Don't invest borrowed money

When you borrow money to invest in unit trust, you lose the control of how long you can stay in the investment! For instance if you borrowed money from bank, hike in interest rate might force you to sell off your investment prematurely if you can't afford the monthly loan repayment.

2) Only use money that you can put aside for 3 - 5 years

Besides allocating money for investment, make sure you reserve some for emergency use! So that during emergency, you will not be forced to redeem your investment when the market is down.

3) Don't let short term fluctuations discourage you

When market is fluctuated, practive switching or dollar cost averaging! Remember your investment objective!

4) When your planned investment term comes to a close, start selling your units gradually and in good time

Don't be greedy! Start selling your units gradually when market is good and the total investment is meeting your objective. You won't want to regret when the opportunity is passed, and you realize you have to delay your retirement plan or worse still your kids education plan till the market rebounded.

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