🌻The Best Piece of Financial Advice I Have Ever Received

And how it can help you today.

Taking action on great financial advice is essential to your financial success — bottom line!

When I was in my twenties, a wealthy man once told me to INVEST YOUR MONEY.

The older gentleman was headed out of a Starbucks as I was going in. I noticed his watch and expensive-looking shirt, not like the guy in the above picture, but one that spoke of fine fabric — like wool, which comes from the vicuña and can only be shorn from the animal once every two to three years. My suspicions of his wealth were confirmed when he headed to his Bently.

This dude seemed like James Bond, so I was curious and asked the fellow impulsively how I could get rich like you?

The fellow laughed and said, “become a drug dealer?”

Clearly, he had a sense of humor — whether he was actually speaking his truth, I will never know, nor did I care to become an accessory, but he quickly followed up and said, “Kid, invest your money, and it will do wonders for you.” Then he drove off.

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At the time, I was thinking invest in what -the fellow didn’t give me specific advice. However, later on in life, I realized there are so many levels to the investment game that even if he drew me a blueprint, I still probably wouldn’t figure it out.

The advice was the best piece I received because he planted the seed into my mind that I should invest what I earn. However, the path to what to invest in is up to me to figure out.

I will preface — I am not a financial advisor or Your financial advisor, but I will share that lesson from that fellow and what I have learned from various books, links and sources — and the path is up to you from there.

Simply stated:

Invest your Money.

Whatever it is you call your money — cake, dough, moolah, benjamins, paper, bread, etc. it is the same for anyone that has to use the money for a living.

If done right, you may be lucky enough to buy one of these gold shirts that the fellow has in the article picture.

Investing your money can easily be applied today because if you put your money towards anything that will potentially reap a benefit is considered investing.

According to the website Investopedia:

Investing is the act of allocating resources, usually money, to generate an income or profit.

You can invest in endeavors, such as using money to start a business, or in assets, such as purchasing real estate to resell it later at a higher price or investing in a skill that will pay you handsomely later on.

Investing depends on what stage of your life you are in, as everyone has different goals and wants.

So for the elderly fellow wth the Bentley, nice shirt, and Rolex, he was probably at the sugar daddy stage.

In my twenties, I was at the beginning of making “good” money, and now, in my forties, with a family and three kids, I am in the legacy stage to build my empire and have resources for my future grandkids.

“It’s not how much money you make, but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for.” — Robert Kiyosaki.

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Money is not the root of evil, but the lack of money is the root of all evil.

Studies show that financial stress is one of the leading causes of problems in our lives. But who needs a study to tell you that!

We all have been broke before, and when you are broke, that shit hurts, especially if you want to provide for your family or do things.

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” — Benjamin Franklin.

Nothing will pay off more than educating yourself when it comes to investing. Do the necessary research and analysis before making any investment decisions.

Financial issues are a problem because, like me, you probably were never told about investing while growing up. In addition, my parents were in survival mode, so it is a challenge to invest while you are surviving.

Later on, in my twenties, I started working in banking to understand money better.

You’re probably thinking, “So, Why should I invest my money?”

Investing in is essential for growth.

Investing is an effective way to put your money to work and potentially build wealth. Smart investing may allow your money to outpace inflation and increase in value. However, the more significant growth potential of investing is due to the power of compounding and the risk-return tradeoff.

The most compelling reason for you to invest your money is the prospect of not having to work your entire life — unless you choose to.

There are many ways to make money, but the two most -common methods are;

-grinding it out and earning it,

and

-having your investments work for you via interest or capital gains.

Capital gains will be a great friend to have if you want to go towards the investment side.

“How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case.” — Robert G. Allen

If you keep your money in a savings account, you will only gain minimal interest, less than 2% at best; meanwhile, the bank makes a profit off of interest by using your money to loan out.

Though investing in a savings account is a safe bet, your gains will be minimal due to the extremely low-interest rates.

But don’t forgo one altogether. A savings account is a reliable place for an emergency fund, whereas a market investment is not.

But other reasons to invest your money are:

Investing can provide a regular income.

The tenant’s rent will be added to cash flow, a monthly income stream from collected rent if you own rental properties.

Vacation homes can be rented daily, weekly or monthly (think Airbnb) and generate higher returns throughout the year.

If you have stock that pays dividends or has increased in value, capital gains are generally taxed lower than your earned income.

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Time is on your side.

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it; he who doesn’t — pays it.” — Albert Einstein

If you begin investing at a young age, historical data shows us that your earnings will outpace those who invest later in life. So you can utilize the benefit of compound interest over decades instead of investing when you are 45 and have less time to earn.

If I had taken that fellow’s advice on the spot and invested right when I was in my twenties, I would have seen a decent return by the time I was in my thirties. (Of course, depending on what I put my money in)

So for those who live a YOLO (you only live once) life, not thinking about tomorrow, the act of you scraping away a portion of your earnings for investing cannot hurt.

You learn more as you keep investing.

When you have skin in the game, the lessons are more apparent. With each win, you attain confidence in your performance and pay attention to the losses. See yourself losing money, and you quickly want to find out why.

I read a decent amount of financial books before I finally invested, but it wasn’t until I invested that I understood what I read from those books.

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So, Where do I start?

Finance can seem like rocket science — What the hell do you invest in? Stocks, mutual funds, ETF (Exchange Traded Funds), retirement accounts, savings, business, real estate, cryptocurrencies, marijuana, insurance, equities, bonds, etc.

There is so much that your head will spin, but the key is to start somewhere. Realize that you do not have to know it all. You have to want to know.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” — Lao Tzu.

Again there is so much information that it can be overwhelming but start simple. For example, the first investment book I ever read was:

“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki

This book was so straightforward to digest that it gave me an appetite to learn more. This book is about the lessons the rich teach their kids about money, which, according to the author, poor and middle-class parents neglect. Kiyosaki believes that the poor and middle class work for money, while the rich make money by having their assets work for them.

There is so much to learn, but you gotta start somewhere.

CONTRIBUTED BY Teronie Donaldson

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