The #1 reason why people do not start investing is Fear.
Fear makes them think they do not have enough money to get started.
Fear makes them think they have waited too long or are too old.
Fear makes them think they will choose the wrong thing and lose money.
Which fear are you more afraid of? Fear of starting or Fear of realizing you cannot retire because you did not prepare for it?
You are never too young to get started. Morgan had her first investment account when she was five years old. I cannot think of a better way to prepare your children to be comfortable with investing than to have them help choose what they invest in. This was not an option when Morgan was young, but it is now.
Starting with your first job, start setting aside 10% of your after-tax income to use for investing. As your wages increase, your investment dollars will increase as well. You do not have to even think about it.
The nice thing about starting when you are young is you have the power of compound interest on your side.
If you are older, it is never too late to start. There are all kinds of options and you can get started for as little as $1. Open an online brokerage account and start investing in companies you like and use. The biggest disadvantage to starting later is that you have to invest more to get to where you want to be.
You may be asking “why invest when a savings account is so much safer?”. While this is true- to an extent- a savings account will never match inflation. You need to find something that stands a chance of matching or beating inflation if you want to be able to make your money work for you. Stocks, mutual funds, and index funds are the most common, but real estate, annuities, precious metals, and crypto are also viable options.
You will want to learn something about the option you are thinking of using before you get started, but often the best way to learn is to actually have a little skin in the game and learn more as you see how your investment goes.
Could you lose money? Yes. It is recommended to never invest what you cannot afford to lose. But, if you do nothing, you will lose money because of inflation. Using the current average annual inflation rate of 7.9% as an example, the dollar you had on March 1, 2021, was worth $0.92 on February 28, 2022. During this same time period, the S&P 500 gained over 10%.
Now, I would never encourage you to do something just because you think you should. If the thought of investing in stocks is way too far out of your comfort zone, look at investments that do not resemble a roller coaster. If it is just a little outside of your comfort zone, invest a small amount- $5 or $10- and see what happens.
If you are interested in investing in stocks, I have a masterclass stored in the free How To Be A Money Master facebook community. If you are not already a member you can join by answering the three easy questions. I have a mini e-course you can purchase, but the free masterclass pretty much covers it all. And I am always available to answer your questions.