While popular culture has made market terms like "short" or "bullish" a regular part of the lexicon, the average person actually knows very little about investing. An annual Bankrate survey consistently finds that a large percentage of people consider cash to be the best investment while another found that seven out of 10 people polled on the street did not know the definition of a hedge fund.
A further eight out of 10 drew a blank when asked to define a bond.
As a result, many are turning to Google (GOOGL) to answer some of their most pressing investing questions. A survey by U.K.-based Investing Reports found that "How do I invest in cryptocurrency?" is typed into the search on average of 150,400 times a month. (While the data is global, it only includes only those who are searching in English.)
These Are Some Of Your Most Burning Investing Questions
Given the cryptocurrency boom over the last few years, this is by far the most commonly-searched question around the world. "How can I start investing?" and "How much should I invest when I start?" were also front-runners with a respective 137,000 and 64,000 times average monthly visits.
"You can trade and invest in stocks on the stock market via apps and websites which can provide a more autonomous experience to trading where you remain fully in control of where you invest your money," write the study's authors in an answer to the second most commonly-Googled question. "However, speaking to a broker can help if you’d rather have a professional handle any of your investments, this can make investing a lot easier if you’re considering investing a large amount of money."
The next two questions are somewhat more abstract and subjective when it comes to answers -- "What should I be investing in right now?" had 56,600 average monthly searches while "What is passive investing?" had 49,500.
"Passive investing is a strategy wherein the aim is to maximise your returns whilst minimizing your buying and selling," write the study's authors. "[...] The benefit of this the simplicity in that there isn’t a lot of active buying and selling, however this can have its drawbacks in that it's so limited that quick returns aren't always guaranteed."
Minimizing Investment Risk Is A Top Concern For Many
Further down the list, the questions become more specific but also indicate a fear of losing money by not making an incorrect investment. "How is return on investment calculated?" "How can I trade safely?" and "What are investment bonds?" all rounded out the top ten.
While "talk to a professional" is the most obvious answer for people wanting to minimize risk, those who want to get started are also advised to read reviews of the platform and start out with a small sum that will not be painful to lose.
"An investment bond is a medium to long-term investment strategy," the authors write in response to the the tenth most commonly-searched question, adding that it can also be an answer to the safe investing question. "It involves putting your money in a single-premium life insurance policy with the benefit being that the investments are held in a tax-efficient way. Whilst you may not even see a return on your initial deposit as the value of the bond can fluctuate, it's generally considered a relatively low-risk strategy."
