Investment decisions: Part 1 (Shares)

In my new years financial goals I laid out my basic investment plan for the year. This involved:

• Paying down my loan by $2,500 each month


• Investing $3,300 each month in the stock market

I had also decided to limit the amounts I could invest in the market so that my investment plan stayed on track. In this series I'm going to post about exactly how I'm going to allocate my funds in the various asset classes.

In this part I will be covering my investment in the stock market. In a previous post I mentioned that the ability had arisen for me to participate in my employee share plan and that the returns available were outstanding. I have decided to participate in this plan to the maximum amount allowed ($730 per month) which leaves $2,570 left for the share market. Of the remaining amount I am allocating half to individual stock investments ($1,285) and half to low cost index funds ($1,285). Given the transaction costs on a circa. $1,000 investment can really start to add up I have decided to invest in these classes in alternating months.

To summarise my investment allocation in the stock market will be:

• 22% employee share plan ($730)


• 39% low cost index funds ($1,285)


• 39% individual stock investments ($1,285)