A first portfolio: what it is assembled from

"Which securities should I buy first" is the most frequently asked question and the third one in order.

Step one: how much money and for how long

The reserve outside the market is separated before anything else — A reserve outside the market: why it matters more than picking securities. What remains is split by the horizons of your goals — The horizon: the one parameter you cannot change by deciding to.

Step two: proportions between classes

The balance of equities, bonds and money market shapes the result more than the choice of individual securities — Asset allocation: the decision that shapes everything else.

Test the proportion not on a questionnaire but with a question: what will you do if the portfolio falls noticeably — How to live through a drawdown without making decisions you regret.

Step three: how to implement it

A broad index fund as the core is the default: diversification in a single trade — The index approach: buying the whole market.

Individual securities for the part you are prepared to study and follow — How many securities to hold.

Step four: the rules

The frequency of contributions, the rebalancing rule, the condition for review — Rebalancing: returning to the target weights, When to change a strategy and when to sit tight.

What not to do in the first year

Leverage, derivatives, concentrated bets. All of it is available and all of it is appropriate later — Eight mistakes of the first year.