For the best possible financial future, you need to look beyond busting debt and saving as much as you can. Your best chance of truly growing wealth is by investing. You can get on the property ladder and find good property investments, but that’s just a first step to many. If you really want to see significant returns, it’s time to look at investing in the trading markets out there.

Know the theory

It’s worth doing plenty of reading on investing before you take your first step in even practicing at it. When investing, you want to build a portfolio, for instance. This often means a selection of separate investments you will trade fluidly, weighing each option differently. You also need to learn how to diversify that portfolio. There are different markets such as stocks, bonds, forex, precious metals, and so on. Read to find how these markets worth and spread your money between them when you can afford new investments. You want to avoid having all your eggs in one basket. A portfolio that’s weighed entirely in stocks might offer the most potential growth, but if something big has an impact across the whole stock world, you stand to lose the most.

Practice makes perfect

Once you’ve done your own research and learned the basics, you might feel ready to start trading. Just hold those horses, however. Nowadays, we have options that make investing much less risky for newcomers than it was in the past. Simulators like that at Investopedia give you a representation of the stock market with fake money to try your hand at first. It’s a good way to practice different strategies and get a feel for what investing entails. It’s not a one-to-one representation of the occasionally volatile nature of the real world, but it’s a good way to find your feet.

Pick your base of operations

If you’re inclined to handle your investments yourself, then you need a constant eye not only on your own investments but the market at large. Trading platform software is the best way for anyone to get access to the markets and make informed decisions by reading the raw data from day-to-day. There are free, limited options but as you get serious you might want to upgrade to suites like Think or Swim which offer access to a much wider set of markets. Many options are paid so make sure you identify what markets you want to trade in and those you don’t so you don’t pay extra for information and access you have no intention of using.

Leave it up to someone else

You should always keep a close eye on gains and losses made in investing, but if you don’t have the time or the skills necessary to manage your own investments, you can always entrust them to someone else. Investment companies might cost a little more to use, but they’re a great way to rely on expert advice and enjoy a more hands-off approach to growing wealth. They tend to represent a variety of clients, often going in together on an investment strategy, so it’s their imperative to keep their client base happy and invest smartly. Of course, there are no guarantees in the world of investing.

The tips above are just a primer on the different steps you should take. If you want to get serious about investing, you have to direct yourself and engage in constant self-teaching. Either that or leave it up to the pros entirely.