Investing a little goes a long way, long term.

We’d all prefer to get things now, rather than now now.  

We’re in a midst of a cultural shift towards immediacy and instant satisfaction. But when it comes to building wealth and investing your money, a change in mindset towards your long-term goals is the best thing you can do for yourself.  

Ask Khadija Ahmed Ally.  

This 27-year-old advisory assistant knows what’s up when it comes to having a long-term point of view for her portfolio: “My core portfolio is for long-term growth.” 

Khadija made a mission of creating a financial security net early on. She feels it has helped her breed good spending habits and manage how she services (and squashes) debt. And still, she wished it could have happened sooner. 

“I would definitely have started saving at an earlier age," she says. “No amount is too small to start with. Saving /investing earlier lets you make and learn from your investment mistakes at an earlier age so you can tweak and change them to better your game. Also, the little bit you put away will become substantial in the long term.” 

The first share Khadija bought was Capitec. Back then in 2015 it was priced at just R500. You only need to take a look at its price now, to see the benefits of long-term investing. “Back then while I was studying for my B.Com degree, we had someone come in to give us a talk on the JSE. He spoke about Capitec and its incredible success and appeal to the market. It completely changed how people viewed and did banking,” Khadija recalls. 

Being a Capitec client, Khadija now loves being able to view her bank account and investment portfolio in one place by using the EasyEquities widget on the Capitec app. It is also convenient for her to transfer funds from her savings account to her EasyEquities account – a function that just got a major facelift, giving app users the ability to do immediate transfers.  

When thinking long term, Khadija has also included US shares as part of her strategy. Included in her USD portfolio are the Alibaba Group, JP Morgan Chase & Co as well as iShares ETFs (Core MSCI Emerging and Core Dividend Growth). 

“I started my USD account to diversify my overall portfolio. This is due to the current economic climate in South Africa but also because there are great opportunities beyond the JSE. Currently the R/$ rate is attractive should you be wishing to put funds offshore for the long term. The strategy I am using for my USD account is Buy-and-Hold. I am also investing in dividend-paying shares to create an income stream into the portfolio,” she says. 

The contents of this blog post are for information purposes to help our users make better investment decisions. The user sharing their story is a genuine opinion and actual experience of the investor – not financial advice. Nomsa Ntentesa doesn’t have any financial interest or relationship to us other than being a client.