Common wisdom suggests younger investors are far more likely to achieve their investment goals the earlier they get started. Time is your biggest investment friend when you are young. It allows you to ride out the downturns, and buy on a regular basis so you have more invested during the good times.

But investing, for many starting out, seems scary and complicated. Media and brokerage reports are filled with conflicting — and often negative — news. Navigating all the products and fees out there can be very intimidating if you have little investment experience. We will try to help, though, by offering five things young investors should consider when just starting out.

Keep your fees low

Fees, simply, are evil. Management fees on funds and other products eat into long-term returns, and, annoyingly, are still charged when investments decline. Over a lifetime of investing, reducing fees can mean the difference between an okay retirement and a great one.

Don't go for the big win

Many young investors believe that, because time is on their side, they can go for the big investment score. It is true that most young investors can allow for a higher degree of risk in their investments, but this does not mean gambling on any high-flyer that comes along.

Keeping your capital is just as important as earning a return. Small company investments are fine, but make sure they are of high quality and, at the very least, are going to survive.

Buy ETFs to get instant diversification

Rather than buying mutual funds, go for exchange-traded funds. The fees are much lower, you will get instant diversification and you’ll most likely get better returns than from mutual funds anyway.

Buy some general market ETFs such as iShares S&P/TSX 60 Index Fund (XIU/TSX) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY/NYSE), and then layer in some high-quality stock purchases to the mix.

Contribute on a regular basis

Suppose you were offered your dream job, but the salary was 10% less than you expected. Would you still take it? Of course you would. Keep that in mind, and, as soon as you get a decent job, contribute 10% of your paycheque into your investment account.

If you do this right away, you won’t miss the money. The regular contributions into your account set up a beautiful investment discipline for you, in addition to making volatility your friend and not your enemy.

You want the market to go down

Say what? Yes, it is true. If you are just starting out as an investor, and plan on investing for decades, why on Earth would you want the market to go up?

So many investors we talk to are surprised by our stance here. But it is common logic, though investors just do not think this way. They feel better when the market is up, even if they are buying.

But changing your attitude here can be extremely liberating. By not fearing a market decline, you are far less likely to panic and sell. Since there may be dozens of times over your investment career when you might feel like panicking, instilling this discipline early on can do wonders for your investment goals.

Repeat after me, “If I am buying, I want the market to decline.”

Of course, successful long-term investing requires more than just the above five points. But hopefully, we’ve set you on your way with some basic guidelines. Looking over our points, we think they apply to all investors, not just those starting out.