If You Want To Start Investing in Australia But You're Scared, Watch This

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Did you know most Australians who want to start investing never actually do?

[00:00:03]Not because they cannot afford it, but because they are scared. Scared of losing their hard-earned money. Scared of getting it all wrong. If that sounds like you, you are not alone. And this video is made specifically for you. So today, I'm going to show you how to start investing in Australia in a way that is simple, safe, and actually makes sense. Let's get straight into it. You are not alone, and your fear makes sense. Before we get into the how, I want to start with something that might actually surprise you. According to a research done by Colonial First State in 2025, three in four Australians describe themselves as interested in investing.

[00:00:32]Three in four, that's 75%. That is a lot of people who want to do this. But here is the part that really stood out to me.

[00:00:37]Among those who have no investments at all, 42% said their number one reason for not starting was fear of losing money due to lack of experience. Not lack of money, not lack of access, fear.

[00:00:46]And a separate study from Australian Super found that nearly two in five Australians experience fear, confusion, or anxiety about their investments when markets get bumpy. So, if you are sitting there right now feeling nervous about putting your hard-earned money into the share market, you are not weak.

[00:00:59]You are not bad with money. You are not behind. You are in the majority. And honestly, feeling cautious before you commit your savings into something new is not a flaw. It is actually pretty sensible. It's what makes us human. The problem is when that caution turns into paralysis, when the fear of doing it wrong stops you from doing anything at all. And that in action has a real cost that most people never calculate. So, let's talk about why investing feels so scary and let's try to fix it together.

[00:01:21]Why investing feels scary and is it actually risky? The fear usually comes from a few specific places. Let us go through each one clearly because once you understand them, most of them start to feel less scary. The first fear is losing all your money. So, let us talk about risk. Honestly, yes, investing involves risk, but probably not in the way you think. The image most people have is someone watching a screen as numbers crash and everything disappears overnight. And look, that can happen with individual stocks, with crypto, with highly concentrated bets on a single company. That type of investing is genuinely risky. But that is not what we are talking about here. What we are talking about is a broad market ETF that holds hundreds or even thousands of companies at once. For that type of investment to go to zero, every major company in Australia and the world would have to collapse simultaneously. And if that ever happened, your super, your savings account, and everyone else's portfolio would be in the same boat. At that point, we would all have much bigger problems than our portfolios, probably involving zombies, canned food, and generators. The risk with broad market ETFs is not losing everything.

[00:02:15]The real risk is short-term volatility, which is the value of your portfolio going up and down along the way. That is real. That is normal and it is manageable if you go in with the right time horizon which we will cover shortly. The second fear is not knowing enough. Most people feel like investing is this complex mysterious world that only finance professionals in suits understand. And that feeling makes complete sense because nobody taught us this. Not at school, not at home. So we arrive at adulthood feeling like everyone else got a memo that we missed.

[00:02:40]Here is the truth. The basics of investing are genuinely simple. I'm going to show you that in a moment. The third fear is getting the timing wrong.

[00:02:46]What if I invest and then the market crashes? What if I buy at the top and watch everything drop? This fear keeps people on the sidelines for months, sometimes years, sometimes forever. Here is what the data actually shows. Timing the market beats timing the market almost every single time. And there is a specific reason for that, which we will get to when we talk about market crashes later in this video. What investing actually is. Let me start from the very beginning because this is where a lot of the confusion comes from. When you invest in shares, you are buying a tiny piece of a real business. When you buy a share of Commonwealth Bank, you own a tiny fraction of one of Australia's largest companies. When CBA makes a profit, some of that flows back to you as a dividend. When CBA grows in value over time, your tiny piece of grows in value, too. Now, multiply that across hundreds of companies at once. That is what an ETF is. ETF stands for exchange traded fund. Think of it like a basket that holds hundreds of different companies. You buy one unit of the basket and you instantly own a small slice of all of them. Australian banks, miners, retailers, tech companies, healthcare companies, all in one simple purchase. This is not gambling. This is not speculation. There's ownership. You are becoming a part owner of the Australian and global economy. And historically, economies grow over time, which means patient long-term investors have tended to do well. According to research by Vanguard, the Australian share market has returned an average of around 9.3% per year over the last 30 years. The US share market has returned an average of around 10.8% over the same period. Those are not guaranteed figures. Past performance does not guarantee future results, but that long-term track record matters a lot when you're thinking about patience.

[00:04:11]Now, here is something I want you to try that might actually be the thing that finally breaks the fear for you. One of the reasons investing feels so scary that it exists only in your head as this big abstract intimidating thing. It has never been real. You have never actually opened an investing account, seen what it looks like or felt what it is like to own a share of something. And that unfamiliarity is a huge part of what keeps people stuck. So, here is a low stake way to make it real today. The investing platform I personally used is the Mumu app. And right now, if you sign up using the link in the description below and make a qualified deposit, you can receive up to 38 free fractional shares plus zero brokerage on Australian and US shares for your first 30 days.

[00:04:44]Free shares to start. Here is why I think this matters for someone who is scared. When those shares land in your account, something shifts. You are no longer someone who is thinking about investing. You are someone who actually owns a piece of a real company. And when you see that little portfolio sitting there, even if it is small, you realize something important. It is not that scary. The screen is just a screen.

[00:05:02]Sometimes the number goes up, sometimes it goes down and the world does not end.

[00:05:06]That is a feeling no YouTube video can give you. Only doing it can. Mumu is also chess sponsored, which means your Australian shares are held directly under your own name through the ASX chess system. Brokerage fees start from just $3 per trade for Australian stocks compared to $10 or more at many major brokers. Terms and conditions do apply, so make sure you read them before proceeding. I'm not sure how long this offer will last, so if you're interested, use the link below to check it out and claim the free rewards on screen. The real cost of waiting. Here is something that most people never calculate and it is the number that changes how people think about getting started. If you invested $200 a month into a broad market ETF and return 9% per year on average, after 20 years you would have accumulated a little over $133,000. If you stretch that to $500 a month over 20 years at the same return, you are looking at a little over $333,000.

[00:05:52]And if you increase that to 30 years, you're potentially looking at almost a million. Now, here is the part worth sitting with. The longer you wait to start, the more of that compounding effect you lose. Compounding is earning returns on your returns and that is heavily front-loaded toward the end of the investment period. Which means the years you wait at the start posately more than the years you wait later on.

[00:06:10]Australian super data shows that a 100,000 investment in their balanced option in March 2005 had grown to over 430,000 by 2025. This was a 20-year period that included the global financial crisis, the COVID crash, and multiple serious downturns. People who stayed invested throughout all of it came out the other side significantly ahead. And there is another cost of sitting still that most people overlook.

[00:06:30]Inflation. Inflation is the gradual increase in the price of goods and services over time. Which means the same amount of money buys you less than it did before. Here is a simple way to think about it. A bag of groceries that cost $100 today might cost $130 in 10 years time. The groceries did not change, but the purchasing power of your money did. The Reserve Bank of Australia targets inflation at 2 to 3% per year, which means money sitting in a transaction account earning 1% interest is quietly going backwards in real terms every single year. The share market over the long term has historically returned above the inflation rate. Cash sitting still is not as safe as it feels. Every year you sit on the sidelines is a year of compounding you cannot get back. What about market crashes? This is the one people ask about most and it deserves a straight answer. Markets do crash. They always have and they probably always will. The ASX dropped roughly 40% during the global financial crisis in 2008. It dropped sharply during co in early 2020.

[00:07:20]These are real events that caused real paper losses for anyone invested at the time. But here is what most people missed or ignored. Both of those crashes recovered fully and the people who stayed invested through them ended up fine. The people who panicked and sold at the bottom were the ones who actually locked in real losses. There is a concept worth understanding here.

[00:07:36]Unrealized losses. If your portfolio drops in value and you do not sell, you have not actually lost anything. It is a number on a screen. It only becomes a real loss the moment you sell. A house does not permanently lose value because someone down the street gets a low offer. In the same vein, your ETF portfolio does not permanently lose value just because the market has a bad month. This is why the most important rule of investing as a beginner is simple. Only invest money you will not need for at least 5 to 7 years, preferably even longer. Your emergency fund stays in a high interest savings account. Money you need for rent, a car, or house deposit in the next year or two does not go into the share market. What goes into the market is money with a long enough runway to ride out the bumps and come back stronger. If you have that kind of time, market crashes become not something to fear, but something to understand. They become noise you can sit through. Knowing the historical pattern is that markets recover. When the market drops and your ETF goes on sale, the regular investor who keeps contributing is actually buying more units at a cheaper price. That is what dollar cost averaging means. You invest a consistent amount each month regardless of what the market is doing.

[00:08:32]Some months you buy when prices are high. Some months you buy when prices are low. Over time, it smooths out and you end up with a solid average entry price across the whole journey. How to actually get started step by step. Let's make this practical. Here is exactly how you go from zero to your first stock investment in Australia. Step one, sign up to an investing platform. To buy shares in Australia, you need an investing platform like Mumu, which I mentioned earlier. It only takes around 5 minutes to sign up and you can start investing straight away. The link is in the description if you're interested.

[00:08:58]Step two, start with $500. In Australia, the ASX requires a minimum first purchase of $500 or any new holdings on a chess sponsored platform. This is called the minimum marketable parcel. It is an ASX rule, not something that the broker invented. You should have at least $500 ready to invest plus a little extra to cover your brokerage fee. The good news is after your first purchase in any stock or ETF, you can buy in smaller increments. So, additional top-ups can be as low as $20. Step three, stay consistent. Do not try to time the market. As we mentioned earlier, there is a famous quote in investing. Timing the market beats timing the market. Set up a fixed amount to invest each Fortnite or month and repeat the purchase, even $200 or $300.

[00:09:34]Again, this is called dollar cost averaging. Some months you buy when prices are higher, some months lower, and over time it smooths out into a solid average. It also takes the emotion completely out of investing, which is very important for beginners. Set it and let it run. Step four, ignore the noise.

[00:09:48]This one sounds easy, but it is actually the hardest part. Once you are invested, the news will report on stock market drops. I mean, that's how they get clicks. Your portfolio will move up and down, and a work colleague will tell you about some hot stock that is about to explode. Ignore all of it. Keep contributing. Stay diversified and give it time. Time in the market beats timing the market. My story, what it actually felt like to start. Let me be honest with you for a moment because I think this is more useful than any hypothetical example I could give you.

[00:10:12]When I first started investing, I was not confident. Ironically, I have a university finance degree and I still hesitated. I mean, I knew what the stock market was. I knew the theory. I understood the concepts, but there was still this gap between knowing and actually doing. And that gap is real and is not about intelligence or financial literacy, which is the topic of this video. It is about fear, which is the main topic of this video. I remember the feeling of making my first purchase. The moment just before I pressed the button, I genuinely questioned whether I was doing something stupid. Surely I'm not as smart as those rich guys in suits on TV. What if the timing was wrong? What if I had missed something? What if the market dropped the next day? And then I pressed the button and the shares landed in my account. Spoiler alert, the war did not end like I imagined in my head.

[00:10:50]In fact, I felt something shift. Not because anything dramatic happened. The market moved a little. Some days it went up, some days it went down. And I realized that the version of investing I had built up in my head, the scary high stakes, one wrong move and everything is gone version was not the reality I was actually experiencing. The reality was far more ordinary and far less terrifying. The hardest part was not the investing itself. It was the whole waiting I had done before starting.

[00:11:12]Every month I had sat on the sidelines was a month of compounding I was not getting back. And once it stopped being something I understood and became something I actually felt, I wish I had started sooner. That is what I want for you. Not a specific path, not a blueprint to copy, just the experience of starting because the fear lives in the idea of investing. Once you are actually doing it, it becomes something else entirely. It becomes normal. The biggest mistake beginners make, one more thing before we wrap up. The biggest mistake beginners make is not choosing the wrong stock or the wrong platform.

[00:11:38]It is investing money they either cannot emotionally handle losing or money they are going to need in the short term. Let me explain both of those. If you invest $10,000 and the market drops 20%, you are sitting on a $8,000 portfolio on paper. If you cannot stomach that and panic sell, you have locked in at $2,000 real loss. But if you start with $2,000 and the same thing happen, you are looking at a $400 paper drop. Much easier to sit with. So you can start small. Get comfortable with the natural ups and downs and scale up as your confidence grows. The second part is just as important. Only invest money you will not need for at least 5 to 7 years, preferably decades. If you are saving for a house deposit, a wedding, a car, or anything else you need in the near future, that money does not go into the share market. Will stop. markets can drop 20%, 30% or more over a short period and they do not care about your timeline. If you need that money in 18 months and the market drops a week before you need it, you are forced to sell at a loss. Keep short-term savings in a high interest savings account where the value does not move. The share market is a long-term tool. Remember that and treat it like one. You can always invest more later. You cannot undo a panic sale. My final thoughts.

[00:12:37]Here is what I want you to take away from this video. The fear you feel around investing is completely normal.

[00:12:41]It is felt by majority of Australians and it makes complete sense given that nobody ever sat us down and explained this stuff honestly and clearly. But that fear has a cost, a real measurable compounding cost. You do not need to be an expert to start. You need a solid financial foundation, a simple and diversified approach, a longtime horizon, and the discipline to keep going when things get bumpy. The best time to start was 5 years ago. The second best time is today. And quick disclaimer, this video is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Any companies, stocks, or ETFs mentioned in this video are used as examples only and are not by recommendations. Please always do your own research before making any investing choices. And if you'd like personal financial advice, please go speak with a licensed professional. By the way, if you're enjoying this video and you made it this far, comment the words not so scary down below so I know who you are.

[00:13:25]And if you're new around here, what are you waiting for, mate? Hit that subscribe button and join this awesome community of like-minded people who are all trying to level up their life. Also, make sure you're following me on Instagram and X, where I post heaps more light-hearted and sometimes funny finance content. And if you want to go a bit deeper, you can sign up to my free email newsletter, Aussie Money Club, where once a week I'll send you some money tips, making news in the market, only cool updates from me. And if you want to learn how to buy your first stock or ETF in Australia this year, check out this video on screen where I'll show you a step-by-step guide on how to do so as a beginner. Thank you for watching. My name is Brian. This is Brian Invest. And I'll see you in the next video.