"Do something today that your future self will thank you for." – Sean Patrick Flanery
Investing is all about making your money work for you. It allows you to sustain and grow your wealth and to ultimately generate an additional income stream. Many recognize the importance of investment but are either too scared, too intimidated, or too uncertain to get started. But did you know that you actually lose so much more by not investing today? Here’s the list:
Opportunity to Reach your Financial Goals
If you, among many others, have long-term financial goals such as owning your own home, traveling the world, starting your own business, or planning for an early retirement, you can’t go about your daily life lazing off. Simply depending on your savings or your day job will not make the cut in the long run.
You have to consider investing in order to accumulate significant wealth to sustain your dreams – unless, of course, if you’re already independently wealthy. Financial freedom is and should be one of the goals anyone should strive for and thankfully, it is more feasible than ever thanks to the countless advantages of reinvesting and compounding.
Retirement Fund
We all have this notion in our heads what our dream retirement should be – to travel the world, feast on sumptuous meals every now and then, enjoy time with our loved ones without a care for the world. However, there is this looming question that you can’t ignore if you wish to enjoy that glorious retirement. Can you afford it? Retirement is something that is often disregarded because it belongs to a distant future and the imminent importance of more urgent matters are at hand.
According to a 2015 East Asia retirement survey, 90% or 9 out of 10 Filipino workers said they were worried about streaking their savings, being in poor health afterwards, and then having no one to care for them.
Planning your retirement as early as today, while one has the luxury of time, to build your savings should always be a priority. And investments can definitely help you ensure a comfortable life upon retirement.
Risk of Inflation
Inflation is something that you don’t probably think of, even ever. But did you know that it has a significant influence over your financial life? You are taking the peril of inflation if you put all your hard-earned money in the bank. The average inflation rate in the Philippines is 9.28% from 1957 to 2011. What does this mean and why should you care? That goes to say that steadily over time, the money in your bank account loses its inherent value. It basically tells you that give or take a few decades, your cash will be worth less than its starting value.
Time
“Time is what we want most, but what we use worst”. William Penn
Your time is valuable. Time once past cannot be brought back by any means. The longer you wait to start, the less time you have to invest and the lesser room you have wherein your money can grow for you. You can always start investing, no matter how small the amount.
The bottom line of it all is that it is always wise to invest a fraction of your savings. You don’t need to invest everything; in fact, you can start small. By starting now, you will be doing yourself and your loved ones a great favor. This is something that you can’t procrastinate on because every decision you make today will affect your future, one way or the other. Start making your money work for you.
We know that investing is undeniably necessary. The question is are you ready to live worry-free?