I've got about 500 thousand pesos saved up and I want to get into the stock market, but I have no idea where to start. I see my coworkers talking about apps like Nubank or Fintual but I'm scared of losing everything. What's the bare minimum I need to know before diving in?
The first thing is don't go in thinking you're gonna double your money in three months, because that's how people lose everything. With 500,000 pesos you've got a decent cushion to start with, but you need to understand that the stock market goes up and down, and if you invest money you're gonna need in the next few years, you're gonna have a bad time when a crash comes. Before you touch any app, learn the basics: what an ETF is (funds that invest in several companies at once, way safer than individual stocks), what your investment horizon is (how long can you leave the money untouched?), and what your risk tolerance is.
Apps like Fintual or Nubank are good to start with because they have low fees and let you invest with small amounts, but read carefully exactly what commission they charge and how they work before you put anything in. A good initial strategy is to put the money in bit by bit instead of all at once, that way you avoid the bad luck of putting everything in just before a big crash.
Before you put in even a single peso, you need to understand the difference between investing in funds (which is what apps like Fintual do) and buying individual stocks, because they're two very different things when it comes to risk and complexity. With 500k you've got enough to start, but the main mistake I see is people open the app, see it went up 5% in a week, and suddenly they want to throw in more money thinking it's easy - that's where everything goes up in smoke. The basics are: learn about diversification (don't put everything in one thing), understand that the market goes down sometimes and that's normal, and if you really don't want to be checking it every day, an index fund or a portfolio built in Fintual is more chill than going around buying random stocks.
How willing are you to study a bit before putting the money in, or do you want something more automated where you don't have to think much about it?
Don't get tempted to throw all your capital in at once, that's what ruins most people. What nobody really mentions is that you need to have an emergency fund set aside first (like three or four months of expenses) BEFORE you invest, because if you put in the 500 thousand and then you need money urgently, you're going to sell at the wrong time. I'd say you start with an app that offers automatic funds or balanced portfolios while you study on your own, and keep a percentage on the sidelines just in case.
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