The main reason why lots of newbies want to start investing now: Low prices. Stocks (and many other assets) have crashed and are super cheap right now. When you buy at such low prices, it seems to increase your chances of selling at a profit.

The tough economic times have forced both companies and investors to shift their focus from aggressive growth, to business fundamentals like sustainability and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. That's good news for conservative investors.

While stock market indices are in free-fall, the astute investor may find opportunity in picking companies that have a better chance of winning in this environment. Had you invested in Clorox or Sheng Siong, for example, you would have made a profit.

As always, nothing is guaranteed when you invest. Yes, you may have bought shares in your favourite companies for cheap... But those firms can very well collapse (like several airlines already have) and leave you with nothing.

Unlike previous downturns, where the collapse of one sector impacted the wider economy, the Covid-19 recession is different. We're seeing widespread job loss across different sectors, which is way more severe and potentially very hard to recover from.

Covid-19 being an entirely different beast from previous recessions, we don't have much data to work with in predicting what's going to happen. We don't know how long it will take before markets recover - or if they will ever recover.

Stocks, shares, equity - same difference. These are little slices of a company that individuals can buy. When the company profits, you (theoretically) profit too, and vice versa. Due to Covid-19, most stocks have fallen in price, but some suffered much more than others (travel, entertainment and hospitality for example).

ETFs or Exchange Traded Funds are baskets of (really, really tiny little bits of) stocks. These typically track a 3rd party index such as the Straits Times Index or S&P 500, so you don't get to choose specific companies to invest in. Most worldwide market indices plunged due to Covid-19 - and along with them, ETF prices.

REITs are kind of like stocks, but for real estate. Instead of being part-owner of a company, you become part-landlord of a real estate conglomerate such as CapitaLand. As you would expect with lockdowns everywhere, REITs are doing really badly at the moment and are therefore cheap.

Bonds are "debt instruments", where you lend money to an entity (e.g. the government) and they repay you with interest. Traditionally, bonds did well in recessions, but this has not been the case for the Covid-19 economy - bond prices are not performing as well as most thought they would.

Similar to bonds, gold (yes, as in gold bars) was thought of as a safe haven in recessions. However, gold prices actually dipped during the coronavirus recession. The dip has not been drastic, but it goes to show what strange times we live in - and that no investments are truly safe.

Commodities, such as crude oil, fluctuate very dramatically. Generally, prices follow the laws of supply and demand - but both can be driven up and down by things like geopolitics and natural disasters. For that reason, it's difficult to even explain, much less predict market movements.

Each time you buy or sell shares, you need to pay the broker a commission fee. If you're a buy-and-hold investor, it doesn't matter so much. But if you plan to trade frequently, make sure you choose a broker with low commission fees.

Ideally, you want your shares to be under your name in your personal CDP account. However, most of the cheaper investment brokerages hold your investments in a (generic) custodian account instead. You have to decide if you want to pay a premium for CDP.

Since online investment brokerages are pretty much a self-service affair, you'll want a platform that is easy to use and to understand. You want something that shows the relevant data points (e.g. share price, historical charts) and an intuitive interface.