01 / Begin
Start investing in LATAM
A peso, a real or a sol kept in a checking account loses real value every year. Mexican consumer prices rose 4.7% last year. Brazilian inflation ran at 4.5%. Most savings accounts in the region pay less than that.
There is a different default. The five steps below take you from understanding why money erodes to making your first monthly investment.
See what inflation actually does to your money.
Across LATAM, the price of bread, transport and rent has outpaced savings interest for a decade running. Real wealth shrinks while the number on the screen looks unchanged.
Pick something that grows faster than that.
An ETF holds hundreds of companies inside a single tradable share. SPY holds the 500 largest US companies. Most retail investors in LATAM start there.
Buy a fixed amount every month.
Do not try to time the market. Most retail investors lose to it. Monthly contributions average your purchase price across good months and bad ones.
Compound it for as long as you can.
Time is the part of investing nobody can buy more of. The chart below shows what $100 a month becomes when you leave it alone for thirty years.
Pick a broker that operates in your country.
Each LATAM country has different broker options, different paperwork and different tax treatment. The right broker is the one that lets you buy what you want, where you live.
Feature graphic
What $100 a month becomes.
Monthly contribution of $100, 8% average annual return, compounded monthly. Total contributions: $36,000. Compounding does the rest.
Try the calculator with your own numbers02 / Refine
Improve what you already own
You bought a few stocks. Maybe an ETF. Maybe some crypto. The next question is whether you bought them on purpose.
The five steps below sharpen that purpose. How concentrated is your position. How much you pay in fees every year. How your portfolio is supposed to behave when the market drops twenty percent.
Stop owning one thing.
If you only own one stock and it falls 40%, you lost 40%. If you own five hundred, you lost what the market lost. Diversification is the closest thing to a free lunch in finance.
Pay attention to the fee.
A 1% expense ratio sounds small. Over thirty years it costs you roughly a third of your final balance. The cheapest broad-market ETFs charge 0.03%.
Decide stocks vs bonds vs cash on purpose.
Picking the right asset mix matters more than picking the right stocks inside that mix. This is where most professionals start.
Know how much your portfolio moves.
Volatility is how much a stock wobbles. Beta is how much it moves relative to the market. Both shape what happens to you in a downturn.
Read what you are paying for company profit.
Price-to-earnings is the simplest valuation tool. It tells you how many years of current profit you are paying for in today's stock price.
By country
What changes when you invest from your country.
Each country has its own taxes, retirement accounts and rules for investors. Choose your country to see what applies to you.
10% on gains, PPR, CETES
Gains on shares and ETFs listed in Mexico, including the SIC, carry a final tax of 10 percent.
A PPR lowers your taxable income, and CETES on cetesdirecto start at 100 pesos.
The 3% rule, AFC, voluntary pensions
Gains on bvc-listed shares are tax-free if you sell no more than 3 percent of a company in a year.
Voluntary pensions and AFC accounts lower your tax, within a cap of 40 percent of your income and 1,340 UVT a year.
Article 107, APV
Gains on Chilean shares and funds pay a single tax of 10 percent under article 107.
APV gives you a 15 percent state bonus or a lower taxable income. You choose the regime.
BVL, AFP, sovereign bonds
Gains on the Lima Stock Exchange cost 5 percent. Through a foreign broker, the rate can reach 30 percent.
Sovereign bonds and Letras del Tesoro are tax-free.
CEDEARs, Bienes Personales
Gains on shares, CEDEARs and bonds sold on BYMA are generally not taxed.
Bienes Personales falls to a single rate of 0.25 percent from 2027. CEDEARs count toward it, bank deposits do not.
All concepts
The full library.
Fifteen concepts, grouped by where they fit in the two reading paths above. Each links to a long-form page with an interactive component.