With both the US markets and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (INDEXASX: XJO) closing in on the record highs reached in July, now might be the time that those who have never invested before start to consider jumping in. After all, it's when markets are on a roll that everyone (including the fabled 'taxi driver') starts talking about investing.
But it's also the time to be the most cautious about jumping in – just look at what happened with BitCoin back in 2017. It was precisely when everyone was raving about it that proved to be the wrong time to buy (in hindsight).
Saying this, here are 2 ASX shares that I think would be worth an investment today for a beginner or starter portfolio.
BKI Investment Co Ltd (ASX: BKI)
BKI was formed in 2003 to take over the investment portfolio of Brickworks Ltd (ASX: BKW), and still holds a stake in Brickworks today. BKI is a listed investment company (LIC) designed to provide its investors with exposure to a conservative portfolio of quality ASX companies, managed on their behalf. Thus, I believe it to be a top notch investment for a starter portfolio, as BKI makes all the investing decisions for you – no stock picking required.
Of course, this doesn't come free, but with a management fee of just 0.10%, it's not going to cost you an arm or a leg with BKI either. Some of BKI's other holdings include Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) and Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN).
Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS)
VGS is an exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks 1,590 companies across all of the advanced economies around the world – think the US, UK, Canada Japan and Europe (Australia is excluded). VGS is a great option as you get familiar names like Apple, Amazon, Toyota, Alphabet (Google), Visa and Microsoft, all in one investment. And with nearly 1,600 different companies, it's about as diverse as you can get as well.
VGS charges a management fee of 0.18%, so is also relatively cheap alongside BKI.
Foolish takeaway
Investing can be scary (especially with markets at high levels), but with these 2 investments, you can outsource the hard work to others while remaining highly diversified. I think any starter portfolio would do well with either of these investments, they're pretty foolproof after all.
