Investments
for Beginners

Investing means putting money to work with the purpose of growing it over time. It's not an activity reserved only for the wealthy, but a tool that anyone can use to build a more secure financial future.

Before starting to invest, it's important to establish a financial safety net. We recommend creating an emergency fund that covers living expenses for 3-6 months, not just for that case, but in general for unforeseen situations in life that unfortunately, sometimes occur at the most inconvenient moment.

All investments involve a certain level of risk, which represents the possibility of losing part or all of the invested money. It's a basic rule: risk must be proportional to income, meaning the higher the risks, the higher the income obtained from the investment should be.

Types of Investments

Stocks

A stock represents a unit of ownership in a company. By buying stocks, you become a co-owner of that company.
Here you can earn money in two ways:

- Through stock price appreciation meaning studying the market looking for undervalued stocks that potentially will increase in price and respectively selling it at a higher price.

- Through receiving dividends, which represent a part of the company's profit distributed to shareholders.

Investing in stocks involves risks. A stock price can decrease, sometimes significantly and rapidly (volatility). There's also the risk that the company you invested in doesn't perform well or even goes bankrupt (company-specific risk). The stock market is inherently risky, and investors can lose money.

How to Invest in Stocks: Concrete Steps

To start investing in stocks, the first step is to open an account with a brokerage firm. It's recommended to choose a regulated broker, with a solid reputation, low commissions and an easy-to-use platform, especially if you're a beginner. In Moldova among the most used and secure online trading platforms would be - Interactive Brokers.

After opening the account, you'll need to transfer money from your bank to the broker. The good news is that you don't need large sums to start, many platforms allow investments starting with relatively small amounts.

Once the account is funded, you can select the stocks you want to invest in. You can buy the stock at the current moment with the current price or you can set the purchase to execute only when the price reaches a certain level.

How Much Can You Earn?

The earning potential can be high, especially in the long term, you can invest in solid companies that have many years on the market and regularly each year only grow in revenues but where there's less risk and money is less, but not always, let's take a concrete example:
META (Facebook, Instagram..) its stocks in 2022 were around $100 per stock, currently (July 2025) a META stock costs over $700.

Your gain is directly linked to the invested amount, growth occurs in percentages, so a person who invested in META stocks in 2022 now has a profit of 600% on their money, however it's not excluded that the stock can decrease back lower than at the purchase moment, that's why you need to monitor the market and exit the game at a certain moment, the earned money you can reinvest in another attractive stock.

Remember that stock investments involve risks and there's no guarantee of profit, you can lose money.

Real Estate Investments

Real estate, whether it's an apartment, a house or commercial space, has always been an attractive investment in Moldova. They can bring money through rents, and real estate prices rise concomitantly with inflation, besides all this type of investment doesn't involve direct risks, you can be sure it's not a money loss.

Researching the market on 999 or other sources you can find apartments/commercial spaces at attractive prices even if currently it seems extremely expensive, good options appear periodically. This type of investment remains the most popular in our country's territory and also the safest among all those we mention in this blog.

How Much Can You Earn?

Depends a lot on location, property condition and market demand. A well-placed apartment in Chisinau, rented, can bring from annual rent around 5% of the apartment purchase sum, to which potential property value growth over time is added.

Example:

Bonds

A bond is a loan granted to an entity (government or company) that obliges itself to repay the amount and pay periodic interest. The main risks include interest rate risk (if interest rates rise, bond value decreases) and credit risk (the issuer cannot repay the loan).

How to Invest in Bonds in the Republic of Moldova?

In Moldova, you can invest in bonds through banks or brokerage firms. The capital market in Moldova has development potential, but the offer of financial instruments, including bonds, is still limited.

Government bonds: These are issued by the Government of the Republic of Moldova, through the Ministry of Finance, to finance state expenses. They are considered very safe financial instruments, with low risk.

Corporate bonds: They are issued by private companies to raise capital. Risk depends on the issuer's financial health. For example, maib has issued corporate bonds with a minimum investment of 20,000 MDL and a floating interest rate, with monthly coupon payment over a 3-year period.

Municipal bonds: They are issued by local authorities to finance public projects, such as building hospitals or schools. They are considered somewhat riskier than government ones.

Mutual Funds

A mutual fund pools money from multiple investors to invest in a diversified portfolio of assets, such as stocks and bonds, managed by professional fund managers. These offer automatic diversification, professional management and accessibility (often you can start with small amounts).

Investment in mutual funds is done by purchasing fund units and in the Republic of Moldova, the mutual fund market is under development.

Bank Deposits

Bank deposits are considered a relatively safe and simple option for financial stability. They work by depositing a sum of money for a determined period, at the end of which the bank returns the amount together with the agreed interest.

How Much Can You Earn?

Purchasing an Existing Business

Another investment path, often overlooked by beginners, is purchasing an already existing business. This can be an excellent strategy for those who want to take over the reins of an already functional operation, with an existing cash flow and an established customer base. Unlike starting a business from scratch, where risks are much higher and the path to profitability longer, buying an existing business offers initial stability and faster revenue generation potential.

How Much Can You Earn?

The earning potential depends on the business type, its previous performance and your ability to develop it. Let's take an example:

An existing restaurant in Chisinau:

Let's assume you purchase a small restaurant, with a loyal customer base, for 100,000 euros. It generates on average a net profit of ~1,700 euros monthly. That means an annual profit of ~20,000 euros.

- Investment recovery: In this scenario, you would recover your initial investment in approximately 5 years

- Growth potential: After taking over the business, you can implement new strategies to increase profitability, such as expanding the menu, optimizing costs, improving marketing or increasing operating hours. These could increase monthly profit and implicitly shorten your investment recovery period even more, and also increase your future income.

Remember: Success in purchasing and operating a business depends very much on preliminary research of the business, on planning and on your active involvement in its management, if you want more detailed information you can study our previous blog

📌 Risks When Buying a Business

Investments may seem complex at first, but with the right information and a step-by-step approach, anyone can participate and work towards achieving financial goals.