A simple way to start investing: small steps, not big decisions
Getting started with investing can feel daunting – but it doesn’t have to. Here’s a three-step way to get going.
Key takeaways:
Starting to invest can be broken into three small steps: start small, spread your investments, and invest regularly.
A few things people often assume are essential really aren’t – like picking individual stocks, watching markets every day, or finding the perfect moment to buy.
Investing little and often can make it easier to begin, easier to keep going, and less dependent on trying to pick the “right” time.
A lot of people who want to start investing get stuck along the way. Not sure when to begin. Not sure how much to put in. Not sure where to put it. Fair enough – investing can seem intimidating.
The good news is that starting can be simpler than it looks – and you don’t need a big lump sum, a perfect plan, or any special expertise.
Here’s a three-step approach that turns investing from a big decision into a small habit, plus a quick look at the things you can stop worrying about.
Why do people put off starting?
Investing isn't an easy world to step into. It has its own language, a lot of strong opinions, but very few obvious places to start. If you've felt put off by that, you're not alone: not knowing where to begin is one of the most common reasons people delay.
Often, the hesitation comes from waiting for the “right” moment, feeling like you don’t know enough, and fears about losing money.
That first one – waiting for the perfect time – is especially common. It’s also a bit of a trap. Even professional investors, with their research teams and their spreadsheets, struggle to reliably pick the best day to invest. That's called "timing the market", and it tends to be a matter of luck, not skill.
Wanting to learn more first is fair, too. It’s your money, and you probably worked hard for it. But the truth is, you don't need to know everything before you begin. You just need to know enough to take a small first step. The rest can be picked up as you go.
And then there’s the fear of losing money. Totally reasonable. Investments can fall as well as rise. But waiting has a cost as well – mainly, time. And time is one of the few truly useful advantages long-term investors get because the longer your money is invested, the more chance it has to ride out market dips.
Step one: Start small and learn as you go
You don’t need a big lump sum to get started. Putting in a small amount on a regular basis is enough. Starting small gives you space to learn as you go and allows you to get used to how investing actually feels.
Even £25 or £50 a month can add up over the years, partly thanks to something called compounding. Compounding is when the returns your investments earn start to make returns of their own. Over long periods, that can help your money grow more than it would have done otherwise. Though, of course, that’s not guaranteed – investments can still go down as well as up.
The important thing is not the exact amount you put in. It's the habit. Starting earlier with small amounts has often done more over time than starting later with a bigger one.
Step two: Spread your investments
The second step is to avoid putting all your money into one thing. You want to spread your money around, in what’s sometimes called “diversification”.
A common way to do that is through a broad fund, which pools together lots of different investments in one place. One type is an ETF – short for exchange-traded fund – which is basically a basket of investments that you can buy in one go. Instead of picking individual companies yourself, you can buy a bit of the whole bundle. A global tracker fund, for example, is designed to track a broad global market by holding shares in thousands of companies across lots of countries. You’re not choosing those companies individually – you’re owning a slice of the lot.
Spreading doesn’t make risk disappear. The overall value of those investments can still rise and fall, and any one asset in the mix can drop too. What it does do is reduce the chance that one bad pick drags everything else down with it. There's a caveat here, though: in a broader market crash – when most investments fall at the same time – spreading offers less of a cushion than it usually does. It manages everyday risk well; it can't override a global, market-wide downturn.
Step three: Invest regularly
The third step is to invest on a regular schedule. That means paying in a set amount on a regular schedule – say once a month – regardless of what prices are doing on the day. It's sometimes called "pound-cost averaging".
The advantage is that it takes the pressure off trying to pick the perfect moment to buy. Here's how it works in practice: because you're putting in the same amount each time, that money buys more when prices are lower and less when they're higher. Over time, the price you've paid tends to even out – which is where the "averaging" part of the name actually comes from.
Many people set up automatic monthly contributions, so it happens automatically. And that helps with one of the biggest problems people run into: the feeling that they need to somehow find the perfect time to start.
Why does this three-step approach help?
Each step takes one of the big worries off your plate.
Starting small means you can begin without overthinking the amount, and you can learn as you go. Spreading your money around means you're not relying on any one investment. And investing regularly means you're not trying to second-guess the market on any given day.
The three also work well together. Small, regular amounts are easier to sustain than big, one-off ones – and putting those regular contributions into a spread of investments means your money is also spread across different market conditions, not just different companies.
Together, they turn investing from a one-off decision into a small, repeating habit. And nothing is locked in – the amount, the spread, and the schedule can all be paused or adjusted later. The aim isn't to get it perfect on day one – it's to start, learn, then refine.
What don’t I need to do?
There’s quite a few things you can scratch off your to-do list, actually.
You don’t need to pick individual stocks. Plenty of people invest through broad funds that already hold lots of them.
You don’t need to watch the markets every day. Prices move constantly, but if you’re investing for the long haul, the day-to-day swings rarely change the bigger picture.
And you definitely don’t need to spot the perfect time to buy. Not even the pros do that reliably.
Daily financial headlines can make investing seem hectic. But it doesn’t have to feel that way. Lots of people set things up once, automate their contributions, and check in only occasionally – there's no prize for paying more attention than you need to.
What’s the very first thing to do?
Open an account. That usually means choosing an investing account with a platform, bank, or app – often a stocks and shares ISA if you’re in the UK and eligible. You can find out more about the different types of investing accounts with our guide on different account options and which one is right for you.
That's it. That’s the first real-world move. Once you have somewhere for your money to go, the rest tends to follow more naturally.
And opening an account doesn't mean you have to invest straight away: you can set it up, leave it for a few days, and come back when you're ready.
From there, the three steps are simple enough: start with a small amount, spread it out, and do it regularly.
You might feel a bit uncertain even after that – which is normal. Just keep in mind, investing isn’t a one-way door, and success isn't about picking the perfect investment on day one. It's about becoming someone who invests regularly over time – and small steps are how that starts.
Next up: a practical look at how to think about, and manage investing risk.
This information is for education only. It’s not financial advice or a personal recommendation.
Moneysupermarket.com Investments Limited is an appointed representative of P1 Investments Services Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA FRN 752005).
