Investment is such a huge word for a lot of people. Not because it requires extensive research,but because people are afraid to take risk with their hard earned money. It is no doubt a very challenging task to make an investment. You have to go through all the options, evaluate among them and finally let your instinct and judgement make the decision on what you should be putting your money in. Also, who would take a risk when you can make 2–10%(Asian countries have higher interest rate on deposits compared to America and Europe)on interest given by your bank or financial institution, right?
This is completely wrong. Yes, it is necessary to keep a part of your income on savings so that you can use it later in case of emergencies or personal need. But it is not wise to keep a chunk of your money in Banks and wait for the interest to cash in, especially if you are an individual aged below 30 who has comparatively lesser responsibilities and better disposable income. Many might argue here that who would have a huge chunk of money to make an investment? If that’s your question, then you probably should reconsider your idea about investment. You don’t need a big amount to make an investment. You can start with low amount and gradually make additional investment if you think the investment is worth something.
On an average, it is not difficult for an individual aged 20–30 to make and investment of $50-$100 every month( I am talking about developed and developing countries here, underdeveloped countries have hard time even fulfilling their basic needs, let alone make an investment). If you consider that amount of investment for a year, you would be investing around $600-$1200 in a year. Since most of the investment will yield you around 20–30% on average every year, your investment will keep compounding and in next 10–20years, you would have made an amount you have never thought you can. Although you should understand that all investment are subject to market risk, so yeah you might end of making nothing. But if you make a good analysis and consult investment advisors, you ending up with zero is completely out of the question. Also if you are early adopter of a new assets class like cryptocurrencies, you might end of making 20 times your initial investment in a year time (Bitcoin moved from $900 in Jan 2017 to $20000 in Nov-Dec 2017). Also a $100 investment in bitcoin in 2009 will now be worth around $75million at current rate and almost $190million in its peak. Wow!!right? Many other cryptocurrencies like Verge ($xvg) gained around 1,581,942% in a single year. Isn’t that amazing? It is necessary to know that cryptocurrencies are very volatile and may result into huge drops and rise.
As an individual aged 26 myself, i think it is necessary for us to take a risk and make investment right now because once over 30, we will lack confidence(research has proven that once over 30, investment related confidence goes down by huge number), have more responsibilities, lose a lot of opportunity that we might have cash in on before. I have seen people spending 100’s of dollar monthly on club, partying, drinking, etc. I am not saying don’t enjoy your time here, i am saying cut down on your expenses on such activities which actually will give you more money to invest and sometime even save you from being addicted to drinking. Its all about your priority. You want to end up making what you make and always kick yourself later for not making a fortune when you could have, or you want to take a step today for financial freedom in later stages of your life? What you do now will result into what you make in future. A person buying Apple stocks in 1996 worth $1000 has now around $120000-$180000. There are countless other examples. Its not that you will make a gain in real time. It will take time and eventually you will end up with a good amount to last your future needs or finally leave that boring job of yours which you always wanted to.
We have so much opportunity now, new startups coming everyday, stock market, forex market, bonds, option trading, hedge fund, cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets(coming soon), etc. All you need is a will to take a risk in something you believe will be huge one day. Either you end of making a ton of money or your initial investment will be worth nothing. That’s a 50/50 chances and 50% chance is a huge odds in your favor. And since you are not investing all your money ( invest only what you can afford to lose and small % of your earning), the financial pressure on your investment will be very less. Its time you take action and unfreeze the amount you have in your banks and invest in productive sector as it is both better for you and your country’s economy. Banks will make bigger gain on your deposited amount and will give you tiny percent as an interest. Rather than taking minor amount of interest,just do what banks do for investment and move ahead of the herd and follow their investment techniques.
Lastly I would like to quote a sentence i hear a lot. “ If you are born poor that’s not your mistake, if you die being poor, that’s definitely your mistake”. I have always taken this as my motivation and have started investment since i was 19. It is never too late to make a decision and take a risk. I am ready for my financial freedom, are you?
Disclaimer: All the above things i mentioned is definitely a financial advise.