The Importance of Investing Today
We live in an on-demand world, but when it comes to building true wealth, there is no short cut. Those who build wealth early and methodically are the ones who come out ahead, achieve financial freedom sooner, and gain the ability to live off of investment income. This article discusses the importance of investing today.
Why You Should Invest Today
Taking the first step is always the most challenging, and many investors are convinced that they can invest at a later time—but this comes at a cost.
Money today can be invested with the potential to earn a total return through capital appreciation and income. By investing today, you have more time to harness the power of compounding—you can reinvest your earnings, and let those earnings work for you.
At a more sophisticated level, investing today allows you to participate in inflation hedging, which enables you to protect your wealth from the erosion of purchasing power due to inflation, and maintain or increase the value of your investments during long-term inflationary periods.
In all, procrastination is a wealth killer—you are never too young to invest, and investing today is better than investing tomorrow. The article Money Management: When and How to Teach Children About Money? discusses when you should teach your children about investing, and how to do so, so that they can have an head start in life by learning early and starting ahead of their peers.
Investment Knowledge And Discipline Takes Time
It takes continuous learning to become a good investor, and by starting today, you will have more time to learn from your own experience and make up for losses on investments by changing your investment strategies to match your objectives, risk tolerance, and newfound knowledge down the line.
One of the first lessons you will quickly learn is the real difference between simply saving money on a random basis and investing. Once you begin investing, it is easy for you to develop a habit of regular saving because you know that there is the potential for your investments to grow providing increased future savings and wealth accumulation. This thought process creates discipline for you to divert money towards investments, as opposed to spending it on unnecessary expenditures.
Earlier Financial Freedom And Living Off Of Investment Income
Through a combination of investing and saving, you will eventually find yourself increasingly less reliant on your paycheck and more financially prepared to semi-retire or retire at an earlier stage of life. In addition, investments such as those in dividend stocks can provide a reliable stream of income throughout the life of the investment.
Retirement and true wealth redefined, then, is when your income from investments exceeds your expenditure, giving you the ability to live off of investment income post-retirement. The bottom line? Investing builds wealth, wealth yields financial independence, and the best time to start is today.
This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, tax, legal or accounting advice nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities referred to. Individual circumstances and current events are critical to sound investment planning; anyone wishing to act on this content should consult with his or her financial partner or advisor.