How much to put in, and what you do when it drops
The decision people get wrong is not which share. It is how much, and what they do next.
Only money you can leave alone
Rent, school fees, next month's food — none of that belongs in shares. The first question is not how much you want to invest but how much you can leave untouched for years.
Do not put it all in one name
A single company can fail for reasons nobody saw. Spreading across several companies and sectors does not remove risk, it just stops one bad outcome from taking everything.
Decide now what a drop means
Prices fall. Write down, before you buy, what you will do if the share drops thirty percent. If your honest answer is panic, the position is too big.
Time is the real edge
Most people who do well in markets are not clever traders. They are patient owners who kept buying quietly and did not sell in a bad month.
The one thing to remember
Size the position so a bad year is survivable. That single choice matters more than timing.
