People want to insure their futures, and they know that if they are depending on Social Security benefits (and in some cases retirement plans) they may be in for a rude awakening when they no longer have the ability to earn a steady income.
You may have been saving money in a low-interest savings account over the years. Now, you want to see that money grow at a faster pace.
Perhaps you’ve inherited money or realized some other type of windfall, and you need a way to make that money grow.
Again, investing is the answer.
If you want or need to make a lot of money fast, you would be more interested in higher risk investing, which will give you a larger return in a shorter amount of time.
If you are saving for something in the far off future, such as retirement, you would want to make safer investments that grow over a longer period of time.
The overall purpose of investing is to create wealth and security, over a period of time.
It is important to remember that you will not always be able to earn an income… you will eventually want to retire.
You also cannot count on the social security system to do what you expect it to do.
As we have seen with companies like Enron, you also cannot necessarily depend on your company’s retirement plan either.
So, again, investing is the key to ensuring your own financial future, but you must make smart investments!
If you were going to purchase a new car, you would do quite a bit of research before making a final decision and a purchase.
You would never consider purchasing a car that you had not fully looked over and taken for a test drive.
Investing works much the same way.
Learning about the stock market and investments takes a lot of time… but it is time well spent.
There are numerous books and websites on the topic, and you can even take college-level courses on the topic — which is what stockbrokers do.
With access to the Internet, you can actually play the stock market — with fake money — to get a feel for how it works.
You can make pretend investments, and see how they do.
Do a search with any search engine for ‘Stock Market Games’ or ‘Stock Market Simulations.’ This is a great way to start learning about investing in the stock market.
Other types of investments — outside of the stock market — do not have simulators.
You must learn about those types of investments the hard way — by reading.
As a potential investor, you should read anything you can get your hands on about investing…but start with the beginner investment books and websites first.
Learn the terminology and speak the language of money. Otherwise, you will quickly find that you are lost.
Make sure to speak with a financial planner.
Tell them your goals, and ask them for their suggestions — this is what they do!
A good financial planner can easily help you determine where to invest your funds and help you set up a plan to reach all of your financial goals.
Many will even teach you about investing along the way — make sure you pay attention to what they are telling you!
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