Top 14 'Overthinking-Proof' Investment Strategies to try for beginners to Finally Make Their First Move This Year - Goh Ling Yong
You've read the books. You've watched the YouTube videos. You’ve even opened a brokerage account. And yet, there it sits, empty. Your money is still "safely" in the bank, earning next to nothing, while the world of investing feels like a massive, complicated exam you haven't studied for. You're stuck in "analysis paralysis," and every article about "the next big thing" only makes it worse.
If this sounds familiar, take a deep breath. You are not alone. This is the single biggest hurdle for almost every new investor. The fear of making the wrong choice is so powerful that it leads to making no choice at all. But here's the secret the pros know: getting started and staying consistent is infinitely more important than picking the "perfect" stock on day one. Time in the market beats timing the market, every single time.
This guide is your antidote to overthinking. We're going to break down 14 simple, actionable, and "overthinking-proof" strategies designed to get you off the sidelines and into the game. Forget complex charts and financial jargon. These are practical first steps to finally put your money to work this year.
1. Start with What You Know (The Peter Lynch Method)
Legendary investor Peter Lynch famously said, "Invest in what you know." This is perhaps the most intuitive and empowering starting point. Instead of trying to understand a complex biotech firm or a niche software company, look around at your daily life. What products do you use and love? What services can't you live without?
This approach dramatically lowers the barrier to entry. You're already a customer, which means you have firsthand insight into the company's quality, customer service, and brand loyalty. Researching a company like Apple or Starbucks feels less like a chore and more like exploring a familiar brand. You already understand their business model because you participate in it.
Actionable Tip: Make a list of 5-10 publicly traded companies whose products you use every single week. It could be the bank you use (DBS), the supermarket you shop at (Sheng Siong), or the phone in your hand (Apple). Pick one and start by reading its latest annual report summary. You’ll be surprised how much you already understand.
2. Automate Everything with Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)
Timing the market is a fool's errand, even for seasoned professionals. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is your secret weapon against the temptation to do so. The concept is brilliantly simple: you invest a fixed amount of money at regular intervals (e.g., $200 every month), regardless of what the market is doing.
When prices are high, your fixed amount buys fewer shares. When prices are low, it buys more. Over time, this averages out your purchase price and removes the stress of deciding when to invest. It turns market volatility, the very thing that scares most beginners, into an advantage. Automation is the key here; set up a recurring transfer or GIRO to your brokerage account, and you'll be investing without even thinking about it.
Actionable Tip: Log into your bank account and set up a recurring monthly transfer of a small, manageable amount ($100, $200) to your brokerage account. Then, in your brokerage platform, set up a recurring instruction to buy a specific ETF with that money. Set it, and forget it.
3. The "One-Fund" Portfolio
What if you could own thousands of companies across the entire globe with a single click? That's the magic of an all-in-one or all-world Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). These funds are designed to be a complete, diversified portfolio in a single package. They hold stocks from various countries and sectors, and some even include bonds to balance out risk.
This is the ultimate strategy for the investor who wants to be completely hands-off. You don't need to worry about rebalancing, picking countries, or choosing sectors. The fund manager does all the heavy lifting for you. You simply buy one thing, consistently, and let global economic growth do the rest over the long term.
Actionable Tip: Research well-known all-world ETFs like the Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRA) or the iShares Core MSCI World UCITS ETF (IWDA). These are popular choices for their low fees and broad diversification.
4. Embrace the Broad Market Index Fund
This is the core philosophy of John Bogle, founder of Vanguard. Why try to beat the market when you can just own the market? An index fund is a type of mutual fund or ETF that aims to replicate the performance of a major market index, like the S&P 500 in the US or the Straits Times Index (STI) in Singapore.
The beauty of this strategy is its elegant simplicity and proven track record. You're not betting on a single company's success; you're betting on the long-term growth of the economy as a whole. Since these funds are passively managed (they just copy an index), their fees are incredibly low, which means more of your returns stay in your pocket. As I, Goh Ling Yong, often remind my clients, minimizing costs is one of the few things you can directly control in investing.
Actionable Tip: For US exposure, look at ETFs that track the S&P 500, such as VOO or SPY. For local Singapore exposure, consider ETFs that track the STI, like the SPDR STI ETF (ES3) or the Nikko AM Singapore STI ETF (G3B).
5. The "Coffee Can" Portfolio
This old-school idea comes from a time when people would buy stock certificates, put them in a coffee can, and forget about them for years. The modern version is about buying a portfolio of high-quality, durable companies and committing to not touching them for at least a decade. No tinkering, no panic-selling, no trying to react to news headlines.
This strategy forces you to adopt a true long-term mindset. It's designed to protect you from your own worst enemy: your emotions. By pre-committing to inaction, you sidestep the temptation to sell during a downturn or chase a hot stock. The goal is to let the power of compounding work its magic over a very long time horizon, uninterrupted.
Actionable Tip: Identify 5-10 industry-leading "blue-chip" companies with strong competitive advantages that you believe will still be dominant in 10-20 years. Buy them, and then make a promise to yourself not to look at their performance more than once a year.
6. Dividend Investing for a Confidence Boost
For many beginners, the abstract nature of "capital gains" can be unsettling. Dividend investing makes your returns tangible. This strategy involves buying stocks or funds that pay out a portion of their profits to shareholders in the form of regular cash payments, called dividends.
Receiving a small cash deposit in your account every quarter can be an incredible psychological boost. It feels like a real, immediate reward for your investment, making it easier to stay the course when the market gets choppy. In Singapore, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a very popular option for this, as they are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders.
Actionable Tip: Research reputable Singapore REITs like CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) or Mapletree Logistics Trust. Alternatively, look into ETFs that focus on dividends, like the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD).
7. Let a Robo-Advisor Do the Work
If the idea of choosing your own funds or stocks is still too daunting, robo-advisors are your perfect entry point. These are digital platforms that use algorithms to build and manage a diversified investment portfolio for you. The process is incredibly simple.
You sign up, answer a questionnaire about your financial goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon. Based on your answers, the robo-advisor automatically invests your money into a suitable portfolio of low-cost ETFs. They handle all the rebalancing and adjustments for you. It's the closest thing to putting your investments on complete autopilot.
Actionable Tip: Explore popular robo-advisors available in your region, such as StashAway, Syfe, or Endowus. Compare their fees, portfolio options, and minimum investment amounts to see which one fits you best.
8. The 95/5 "Boring and Fun" Split
This strategy brilliantly balances responsible long-term investing with the human desire to speculate a little. The rule is simple: allocate 95% of your investment capital to a "boring," well-diversified, long-term strategy, like a global index fund. This is the core of your wealth-building engine.
The remaining 5% is your "fun money." You can use this small portion to invest in things you're curious about—a single tech stock, a thematic ETF, or even cryptocurrency. This allows you to scratch that speculative itch and learn about different asset classes without jeopardizing your financial future. If your fun picks do well, great. If they don't, your core portfolio remains safe and sound.
Actionable Tip: Calculate your total investable amount. Put 95% of it into a core holding like VWRA. Use the other 5% to buy a small amount of a stock from a company that you find exciting.
9. Invest in a Theme You Believe In
Are you passionate about the future of renewable energy, artificial intelligence, or cybersecurity? Thematic ETFs allow you to invest in these long-term trends without having to pick individual winning companies. These ETFs hold a basket of companies that are all focused on a specific sector or theme.
This can be a more engaging way to invest than just buying a broad market fund. It connects your portfolio to your personal interests and beliefs about where the world is headed. While more concentrated (and thus slightly riskier) than a global index fund, it's a far simpler and more diversified approach than trying to become an expert stock picker in a complex field.
Actionable Tip: Interested in clean energy? Look at an ETF like iShares Global Clean Energy UCITS ETF (INRG). Fascinated by AI and robotics? Research the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO).
10. Pay Yourself First (The Non-Negotiable Bill)
This is less of an investment strategy and more of a life-changing financial habit. Most people save or invest what's "left over" at the end of the month. The "Pay Yourself First" method flips that script entirely. You treat your investment contribution as the most important bill you have to pay.
The moment your salary hits your bank account, a pre-determined amount is automatically transferred to your investment account—before you pay your rent, your phone bill, or buy groceries. This ensures you are always investing consistently. What's left over is what you have for spending, not the other way around. This simple mindset shift is the foundation of building serious wealth over time.
Actionable Tip: Decide on a realistic percentage of your income to invest (e.g., 10%, 15%). Set up an automatic transfer for that exact amount to your brokerage account, scheduled for the day after you get paid.
11. Start Ridiculously Small
One of the biggest mental blocks is the feeling that you need a large sum of money to start. You don't. The goal of your first investment is not to make a fortune; it's to break the inertia, build a habit, and get comfortable with the process. So, start with an amount that feels almost insignificant.
Invest $100. Or $50. Or even $20. The amount doesn't matter. What matters is that you've gone through the motions: funding your account, choosing an investment, and clicking the "buy" button. This single action demystifies the entire process and proves to your overthinking brain that it's not that scary. You can always increase the amount later as your confidence grows.
Actionable Tip: Find a brokerage that offers fractional shares and has no or very low minimum investment requirements. Commit to investing just $50 this week to buy a fraction of a share of a broad market ETF.
12. The "Lazy Portfolio" (2 or 3 Funds)
If a one-fund portfolio feels a little too simple, but managing dozens of stocks is overwhelming, the "Lazy Portfolio" is your perfect middle ground. The idea is to build a globally diversified portfolio using just two or three low-cost index funds.
A classic example is a three-fund portfolio consisting of a domestic stock index fund (like an STI ETF), an international stock index fund (like an S&P 500 or All-World ex-SG ETF), and a bond index fund. This gives you broad diversification across different geographies and asset classes. The only work required is to "rebalance" it back to your target percentages perhaps once a year.
Actionable Tip: A simple Singapore-based lazy portfolio could be: 40% in an STI ETF, 40% in an S&P 500 ETF, and 20% in a Singapore bond ETF.
13. Use Your CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS-OA)
For Singaporeans, this is an often-overlooked and "overthinking-proof" way to invest for the long term. You can use the funds in your CPF Ordinary Account (OA) to invest in a range of government-approved products. Since your CPF is already earmarked for retirement, it's psychologically easier to invest this money with a true long-term perspective.
While the range of options is more limited than a regular brokerage account, it includes many excellent, low-cost index funds. The key advantage is that you are putting money that would otherwise be earning 2.5% p.a. to work in the market, potentially generating much higher returns over the decades leading up to your retirement. A core principle that we at Goh Ling Yong's practice emphasize is utilizing every available tool to compound your wealth, and the CPFIS is a powerful one.
Actionable Tip: Open a CPF Investment Account with one of the local banks (DBS, OCBC, or UOB). You can then use your CPF-OA funds to invest in low-cost ETFs like the SPDR STI ETF (ES3) directly through the bank's brokerage platform.
14. The "Just-Buy-Blue-Chips" Strategy
When in doubt, stick with the giants. "Blue-chip" stocks are the largest, most financially sound, and most well-established companies in the market. Think of names like DBS, Singtel, Microsoft, or Coca-Cola. These companies have been around for decades, have survived multiple recessions, and have a proven track record of stability and often, consistent dividends.
For a beginner, focusing exclusively on blue-chip stocks removes a huge amount of guesswork. You're not trying to find the next hidden gem; you're simply investing in the established leaders of the economy. They tend to be less volatile than smaller companies, making for a less stressful ride.
Actionable Tip: Create a watchlist of 10-15 blue-chip companies, both local and international, that you admire. Start by buying a small position in one or two of them.
Your First Move is Your Best Move
The perfect investment strategy doesn't exist. The "best" strategy is the one that you understand, that you feel comfortable with, and that you can stick with for the long haul. The enemy isn't picking the wrong stock; it's letting the fear of imperfection keep you from starting at all.
Look through this list of 14 strategies. Which one feels the least intimidating? Which one sparks a little bit of excitement? Pick that one. Not next month, not next week. Today.
Commit to taking one small, concrete step. Open that account. Set up that automatic transfer. Buy that first, ridiculously small share of an ETF. That single action will do more for your financial future than another hundred hours of research. You've got this.
Now it's your turn. Which of these 'overthinking-proof' strategies resonates most with you? Share your choice in the comments below—making a public commitment is a powerful way to ensure you follow through!
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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