Are you thinking of buying your first ASX shares? Well, congratulations. Getting started on your investing journey can be daunting, but it's a phenomenal step to take for your financial future. Considering the effects of compound interest, the earlier one starts investing, the better.
But which shares to choose? That's going to be a personal decision at the end of the day. But here are three ASX shares that I think would make worthy candidates for a first ASX share.
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3 ASX starter shares for a beginner investor
BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF (ASX: NDQ)
This investment isn't really a share, but rather an exchange-traded fund (ETF). ETFs are investments that hold a collection of (usually) shares within them. In this case, we are getting the 100 largest companies on the American NASDAQ stock exchange.
The NASDAQ is famous for housing most of the US tech giants. Its top holdings are well-known names like Apple Inc, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc.
The NASDAQ indisputably holds some of the best companies on the planet. Who can match the brand power of Apple, or the endemic use of Microsoft's software? Because this ETF is an index fund, it will always hold the largest companies at any given time, meaning the BetaShares NASDAQ 100 ETF is a perfect 'bottom drawer' investment.
Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW)
We all know Woolworths as the largest supermarket chain in Australia. And that is a great place to start with an investing portfolio.
If you are buying a company's shares, you are buying a part-ownership of that company. So owning Woolies shares means that you can go to your local supermarket and look at the store you have a share in.
Woolworths may not be a millionaire-making kind of company. But I think it is a company that is almost certainly going to be around in 10 years' time, and with a larger business than today. I think Woolies is a perfect company for someone wanting slow and steady returns, as well as a nice fully franked dividend for some extra income.
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
Wesfarmers is not a name that too many ordinary Australians might know. But there's little doubt that almost everyone in the country would know at least one of Wwsfarmers' retail brands.
This is the company behind Bunnings, Officeworks, Target and Kmart. But Wesfarmers also has many other businesses as well. These include interests in mining, industrial chemicals, fertiliser and gas.
Quite simply, this is one of the largest and most diverse businesses on the ASX share market. Wesfarmers has a long history of delivering returns to its shareholders, and with such strong businesses under its belt, I don't see why this can't continue well into the future. Investors will also enjoy a decent dividend from Wesfarmers shares as well.
