What Are The Best Investments?
“Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others.” — John Maynard Keynes.
The other day a friend was asking me for investing advice after he found out about my personal finance blogging background. Yes this is a typical question for a finance blogger. People want to know about great investments. I could tell from the tone of his voice that he just wanted a shortcut, a quick answer, a get rich quick idea. I simply told him that he’s better off holding his money in a savings account.
Why did I suggest to my friend that investing isn’t such a hot idea?
He has a wedding coming up.
With a wedding coming up you’re going to want liquid cash. You’re also not going to want to risk losing any of your money. A wedding creates enough financial issues. Is it worth adding to this?
He’s always stressed out.
This guy is always stressed out. He lets every little thing bother him. I really don’t see him doing well as a stock trader or flipping properties. This is totally cool. Investing isn’t for everyone. Most of us would rather work a job that we enjoy and passive save our money. Nothing wrong with that.
He wants to buy a home soon.
This is another reason to have liquid cash available. If you want to buy a home in the near future you need to have cash ready for your mortgage down payment. You also don’t want to risk losing out on a dream home because you blew your life savings on some day trading gone wrong.
Where am I going with this? Simply put, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to investing money. This is why I believe in unique advice for our unique situations.
Sometimes investing is a great idea. Other times investing your hard earned money isn’t a great idea at all. It’s up to you to decide. Only YOU know about your situation.
