“Investing” a really intimidating word for a young person with very little money. I’ll admit that the thought of investing in the stock market has been terrifying to me until very recently. My husband, always much more of a risk-taker, has been the driving force in making sure we’re not only investing into retirement funds but general investment accounts that will grow our savings exponentially faster than a traditional savings account. I’m so glad I let him convince me, and now I want to convince you!
If you’re not investing into anything other than your bank account right now, consider these reasons to get started today!
- Compound interest. This modern marvel is your best friend when it comes to investing. It’s a money snowball effect (in a good way), and the sooner you start investing, the more money you’ll make over time, even if you stop contributing.
- Make your money work for you. You’ve worked hard for your money, so why let it just sit in a savings account and barely keep up with inflation? Send those babies off to work! When you put your money in an investment account, it’s out there bringing in more (over time) without you having to do a thing.
- Out of sight out of mind…until you need it. If you budget properly for investing, you can think of it as spent money. It’s gone into oblivion. If you’re investing in a retirement fund, it virtually is gone because it’ll be decades before you can access it. If it’s not a retirement fund, this is like a buried treasure that you can dig up when you need it. We just bought a house, and our regular savings account drained quickly after paying the down payment and closing costs, bought furniture, and paid for several major surprise expenses that came up. While I didn’t plan to use our investments for any of these things, it was a huge relief knowing that they were there, just in case!
- It’s easier than you think! We use Wealthfront and Acorns, which are “robo-advisers.” Basically, all that means is that it’s as simple as setting up an online account, making your initial deposit (and setting up additional automatic deposits), then sitting back and relaxing while your money earns interest. They charge low fees, and we have earned well over 10% on each account over the lifetime of our investments.
What are you waiting for? Sign up for Acorns here, and you’ll get $5 free to start investing!