Investing is complicated for many people. The fact that no one knows what the market will do overnight allows many so-called experts to give their opinion on where the market is headed. Just search for the term “investment strategies” and you’ll find over 10 million results. Yes, 10 million.

It’s no wonder then why most people choose to do nothing over do something when it comes to investing. The classic “analysis paralysis” comes into play. The question is how can you simplify investing? Below is how I go about investing. My approach is quite simple.

I don’t look at the market every day. I don’t make that many transactions in a year (in fact, if I checked, I’m sure the number would be less than 20). I also don’t try to find the “next big thing”. I don’t care about any of this.

Why don’t I analyze the stock market?

Why don’t I care? I have two reasons:

• I don’t want to spend my free time analyzing investments
• If you look back at the beginning of this article, I have no idea where the market will go tomorrow.

Let’s look at each of these in more detail. First, I value my time. I like to play golf and ride a mountain bike. I like to spend time with my friends and my family. If I spent every weekend researching stocks, I would have less time to do the things I love to do. Also, my performance is fine with the way I invest (more on that later).

Then comes the issue of not knowing where the market is headed. Why would I want to spend my free time researching stocks to invest in if there is a 50/50 chance tomorrow that the market will go up?

Simple steps to invest successfully

This is how I invest and keep things simple. First, I choose low-cost investments. I am a firm believer in passive investing. I am not paying money to a professional money manager when he or she cannot consistently beat the market every year. I take what the market gives me.

Then, I invest money in the market every month, regardless of whether the market is up, down, or sideways. I do not care. I’m investing for the long term, so daily fluctuations don’t matter to me. Although I get excited when the market falls and I can buy more shares.

Finally, as I just mentioned, I’m still investing for the long term. This is vital to being a successful investor. If you are looking to make money in the short term, you should not be in the stock market. It is too volatile in the short term. But the long term at hand is another story. In the long run, the stock market tends to rise. If you are looking to make money in the long term, the stock market is for you.

final thoughts

In general, investing is simple. You just have to know how to ignore all the advice you hear every day regarding investing. All of this conflicting advice makes many people think that investing is too complicated. It really isn’t. If you break it down into a few simple and important steps, you will find success with investing.

I have used this method of investing for the past 16 years. That includes 2 wars, 2 recessions, and one big bubble burst. I started with $20 per paycheck in a 401k. Since then I’ve added a few other accounts and now I’m getting close to a million dollars. As I did? Keeping things in perspective and looking to the long term when it comes to investing.