How to Start Investing in Stocks with GoTyme: A Beginner's Guide

You can start investing in Philippine stocks with as little as a few hundred to a few thousand pesos, straight from the GoTyme Bank app you may already use for savings. This guide walks you from zero knowledge to your first purchase, step by step.

Most Filipinos never invest because it feels complicated, expensive, or risky. The truth is simpler. Buying a stock means buying a small piece of a real company, like the mall you shop in or the bank that holds your payroll. Done patiently and with money you can leave alone, it is one of the most reliable ways ordinary people grow their savings over the long run.

By the end of this guide you will know what a stock is, whether you are ready to invest, how to set up PH Stocks inside GoTyme, how to place your first order, what it costs, and which beginner mistakes to avoid.

Stock investing in plain words

A stock (also called a share) is proof that you own a tiny part of a company. If a company has 1 million shares and you own 100, you own 0.01% of it.

Philippine companies sell their shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). You cannot buy directly from the PSE. You buy through a licensed broker, and inside GoTyme that broker is DragonFi Securities.

You can make money from stocks in two ways:

• Price growth (capital gains). You buy SM Investments at ₱500 a share and sell later at ₱600. You earn ₱100 per share, minus fees.
• Dividends. Profitable companies share part of their earnings with owners in cash. If a company pays ₱5 per share a year and you own 100 shares, you receive ₱500, minus tax.

A few more words you will see in the app:

The most important thing to understand is risk. Stock prices go up and down every day, sometimes sharply. In 2026, several of the biggest Philippine companies fell 20% to 30% from their January prices. Stocks are not covered by PDIC deposit insurance, and nobody can guarantee returns. That is why the rest of this guide focuses on investing slowly, simply, and only with money you will not need soon.

Before you invest: are you ready?

You are ready to buy stocks when you can say yes to all five questions below. If you cannot, fix that first. It protects you from being forced to sell at a loss.

1. Do I have an emergency fund? Keep 3 to 6 months of essential expenses in a savings account first. This is the money you use when you get sick or lose income, so you never have to sell stocks at a bad time.
2. Am I free of high-interest debt? Credit card debt can cost 2% to 3% a month. Paying it off is a guaranteed return that stocks cannot beat.
3. Can I leave this money alone for at least 5 years? Stocks can stay down for years. Money for tuition next semester, rent, or a wedding next year does not belong here.
4. Do I know my goal? "Grow my retirement fund" or "build dividend income" keeps you steady when prices fall. "Get rich fast" does not.
5. Can I stay calm if my investment drops 30%? It will happen at some point. Long-term investors who hold through drops are the ones who usually come out ahead.

A simple rule many beginners use: start with an amount you would be okay never touching for five years, even if it shrank on paper for a while.

What GoTyme offers for stock investing

GoTyme's stock feature is called PH Stocks. It lets you buy and sell shares of companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange inside the same app you use for banking. GoTyme launched it in April 2026 and positions it for long-term, dividend-focused investing rather than day trading.

The actual brokerage is DragonFi Securities, Inc., an SEC-licensed broker-dealer. DragonFi is a PSE trading participant and a member of the Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines, PDTC (the depository that holds shares), and SIPF, the Securities Investors Protection Fund. SIPF protects investors if a broker fails. It does not protect you from a stock falling in price.

What this means for a beginner:

• One app, no separate broker account. You move money from your GoTyme balance into PH Stocks with one tap.
• Small starting amounts. There is no fixed peso minimum. You can buy full board lots or smaller odd lots. GoTyme's own example: 2 shares of Jollibee at ₱209 cost ₱418 in the odd lot market, while a regular 10-share board lot costs ₱2,090.
• Orders any time. You can place orders after hours, on weekends, and on holidays. They are processed only during PSE trading hours.
• Philippine stocks only. PH Stocks covers PSE-listed companies. GoTyme's crypto feature is separate and far riskier, so keep the two apart in your mind.

GoTyme's bank deposits are PDIC-insured up to ₱1 million per depositor. Money you put into stocks is not a deposit and is not PDIC-insured.

Step by step: your first stock purchase on GoTyme

The whole setup takes one sitting if you have your TIN ready. Here is the full path from a fresh phone to owning your first shares.

1. Get a GoTyme Bank account. Download the GoTyme Bank app from the App Store, Google Play, or AppGallery and open an account with a valid government ID. Skip this if you already bank with GoTyme.
2. Activate PH Stocks. On the app's home screen, tap Explore PH Stocks, then Activate my PH Stocks account. You will need:
   • Your email address, where statements and order confirmations are sent.
   • Your TIN (Tax Identification Number), required because stock sales and dividends are taxed.
   • Answers to the Client Suitability Questionnaire, which asks about your experience, how much loss you can handle, and your finances. Answer honestly. It exists to protect you.
3. Add money. Transfer funds from your GoTyme balance by tapping Add Money on the PH Stocks page. The transfer is instant.
4. Find a company. Search by name or ticker, for example "BDO" or "SM". Open the stock page and look at the price chart, today's price range, and any news.
5. Choose board lot or odd lot. A board lot fills faster because more people trade it. An odd lot lets you start smaller but may take longer to match.
6. Set your price (limit order). Enter the highest price you are willing to pay per share and the number of shares. Your order only goes through at that price or lower. A sensible beginner habit is to set a price at or very close to the current price.
7. Review fees, then confirm. The app shows the total cost including fees before you submit. Read it, then confirm.
8. Wait for a match. Orders execute only during PSE trading hours, Monday to Friday except holidays: 9:30 AM to 12:00 NN and 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM. Once matched, the shares appear in your PH Stocks portfolio. Unmatched orders stay open until filled or until they expire.

When you eventually sell, the proceeds take about 2 days to settle before you can withdraw them to your GoTyme account, though you can use them right away to buy other shares in the app.

How to choose your first stocks

As a beginner, start with large, profitable, well-known companies and spread your money across a few industries. Leave small, cheap, "hyped" stocks for much later, if ever.

Run every company through this five-point check before you buy:

1. Do I understand how it makes money? If you cannot explain the business in two sentences, skip it for now.
2. Is it consistently profitable? Look for profits in most of the past 5 years, not just one good quarter. Company earnings are published on PSE Edge.
3. Does it pay dividends regularly? A long record of steady or rising dividends is a sign of a healthy, shareholder-friendly company.
4. Is it large and actively traded? PSEi companies are easier to buy and sell at fair prices.
5. Is the price reasonable? A low share price does not mean cheap. A ₱1 stock can be overpriced and a ₱500 stock can be a bargain. Compare the price with the company's earnings (the P/E ratio) and with its own history.

Diversify from day one. Instead of putting everything into one company, aim for 3 to 5 companies from different sectors over time. For example, a beginner portfolio might eventually include one bank, one property or mall operator, one utility, and one consumer or holding company. If one sector has a bad year, the others cushion the fall.

These are illustrations of well-known companies, not buy recommendations. Each one has its own risks: in 2026, for example, property stocks fell on weak earnings and Meralco dropped on proposed power reforms.

If picking companies feels overwhelming, look for an index fund or ETF that tracks the PSEi, such as the First Metro ETF (FMETF). It spreads your money across the biggest Philippine companies in one purchase. Check whether it is available in PH Stocks before planning around it.

Fees and taxes to expect

Buying costs about 0.3% of your order, and selling costs about 0.4%, so a full buy-and-sell round trip costs roughly 0.7%. These are the standard Philippine trading fees PH Stocks applies, and the app shows the exact total before you confirm.

Worked example on a ₱5,000 order:

• Buying: ₱12.50 commission + ₱1.50 VAT + ₱0.25 PSE fee + ₱0.50 SCCP fee = ₱14.75
• Selling the same ₱5,000: ₱14.75 + ₱5.00 transaction tax = ₱19.75

Some brokers set a minimum commission per trade, which makes very small orders proportionally more expensive. Check the fee preview on your first few small orders.

Taxes on your earnings:

• Dividends are subject to a 10% final withholding tax for resident Filipino individuals. It is deducted automatically before the cash reaches you, so a ₱500 dividend arrives as ₱450.
• Profits from selling listed shares on the PSE are not subject to capital gains tax. The 0.1% transaction tax above replaces it.

The lesson: fees are small if you buy and hold, and they add up fast if you buy and sell often.

A simple strategy that works for beginners

Invest a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, every month, no matter what the market is doing. This is called peso-cost averaging, and it removes the hardest part of investing: guessing the right time to buy.

When prices are high, your fixed amount buys fewer shares. When prices are low, it buys more. Over time your average cost tends to come out lower than the average price.

Example: ₱3,000 invested every month in one stock (fees left out for simplicity)

Your average cost is ₱96 per share, even though the price swung from ₱75 to ₱120. At ₱100, your 125 shares are worth ₱12,500. Notice that the scary month, when the price fell to ₱75, was actually your best buying month.

To make this work on GoTyme:
• Pick a payday ritual. Right after salary day, move your set amount into PH Stocks and buy.
• Use odd lots to match your budget when a board lot costs more than your monthly amount.
• Rotate among your 3 to 5 chosen companies so you build a diversified portfolio over the year.
• Reinvest dividends into more shares instead of spending them. This is how compounding builds wealth over 10 to 20 years.
• Check your portfolio monthly, not daily. Daily price moves are noise for a long-term investor.

Common beginner mistakes to avoid

Most beginner losses come from behavior, not from picking the "wrong" stock. Avoid these and you are already ahead of most new investors.

• Investing money you need soon. If you might need it within a few years, it belongs in savings, not stocks.
• Chasing a stock after a big jump. A stock up 5% in a day is not automatically a good buy. You may be buying at a short-term peak.
• Panic selling during a drop. Selling after a 20% fall turns a temporary paper loss into a permanent real one, provided the company itself is still healthy.
• Buying because the price is low. A ₱1 stock is not cheaper than a ₱500 stock. What matters is the company's value relative to its price.
• Putting everything in one company. Even blue chips can fall 30% in a year. Spread your money across sectors.
• Following tips from social media or group chats. "Sure win" stock tips, guaranteed returns, and pressure to buy now are red flags, and often scams. Legitimate investments never guarantee returns.
• Trading too often. Every buy and sell costs about 0.7% in fees and taxes, and frequent traders rarely beat patient holders.
• Mixing up stocks and crypto. They sit in the same app but are very different. Stocks are ownership in real businesses. Crypto is far more volatile and has no earnings or dividends behind it.
• Never learning. Spend 15 minutes a month reading the news and quarterly results of the companies you own.

Final words

The best time to start is once your emergency fund is in place, and the best amount is one you can keep adding every month. Open PH Stocks, buy one share of a company you understand, and learn by watching it for a few months. Patience and consistency matter far more than picking the perfect stock.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not personalized investment advice. Stock investments carry risk, including the loss of principal, and past performance does not guarantee future results. Fees, features, and tax rules described here are current as of October 2026 and may change, so always confirm the details in the GoTyme app. For advice on your specific situation, consult a licensed financial professional.

Sources

• GoTyme Bank: PH Stocks
• GoTyme Help: How to Open an Account for Stocks
• GoTyme Help: How to Fund Your Stocks Account
• GoTyme Help: When Can I Trade My Stocks and How Long Do Orders Settle?
• BitPinas: GoTyme Bank Launches PH Stocks for In-App PSE Investing
• Philstar: GoTyme rolls out in-app stock trading feature
• Fintech News Philippines: GoTyme Bank PH Stocks
• PSE Edge