Making the decision to invest in ASX shares for your financial future is one of the hardest steps a beginner investor can take on their investing journey. There are a lot of myths and mistruths out there regarding the share market and its suitability for ordinary Australians. Overcoming these can be difficult.
If you have, congratulations. The next step – choosing your first ASX shares to buy – can be a hard task to accomplish as well, though. I know it was for me.
So, to help in this endeavour, today, we're going to discuss a pair of ASX shares that I think any beginner investor can buy with confidence.
Two ASX shares that a beginner investor can buy today
Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS)
Rather than choosing one individual company to buy, many beginner investors don't know that you can just buy all of them. Well, the largest 300 shares on the market, anyway. That's exactly what this exchange-traded fund (ETF) offers.
The Vanguard Australian Shares ETF tracks an index that covers the 300 largest companies listed on our share market. That's everything from Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) and Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) to Telstra Group Ltd (ASX: TLS) and JB Hi-Fi Ltd (ASX: JBH).
In an index fund like this, the larger shares take up more room in the overall portfolio than the smaller ones. This helps the best-performing companies rise over time. At the same time, it helps to weed out the poor performers.
The best part of this process is that the investor doesn't have to lift a finger. You can just buy this ETF and leave it in the proverbial bottom drawer, confident in the knowledge that you will always be invested in the best of Australian business.
Australian Foundation Investment Co Ltd (ASX: AFI)
The Australian Foundation Investment Co, or AFIC for short, is another ASX share that I think would suit a beginner investor down to the ground. Unlike VAS, this is not an ETF, but a listed investment company (LIC). However, AFIC functions very similarly to VAS in practice, owning a huge portfolio of underlying ASX shares that are managed on behalf of shareholders. The difference is in its approach, though. Whilst VAS merely tracks an index, AFIC's portfolio is selected by the company's management team.
By buying AFIC shares, you'll also get exposure to a broad, diversified portfolio of other ASX shares. This LIC doesn't own anything close to 300 shares. Even so, you'll still get exposure to companies ranging from CBA and Telstra to CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL), Bunnings-owner Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Xero Ltd (ASX: XRO).
Again, you don't have to make any of those difficult investing decisions yourself. This, like VAS, makes AFIC a great bottom-drawer stock to own and a perfect investment for a beginner.
