WHY YOU NEED TO BE INVESTING [YESTERDAY].

Let’s set a quick goal together; to not get overwhelmed or turned away by the topic of “investing.”

If you’re still reading this, congratulations! You crushed the first goal! The thing is, investing isn’t as difficult as it seems. It can be as simple as contributing to your retirement plan at work, but sometimes how to go about doing this isn’t clear.

In general; investing means putting your hard-earned cash into some type of investment ‘vehicle’ in anticipation for a greater return in the future, aka more money than you started with.

SOMETIMES, WE’RE AFRAID TO GET OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE

Picture this: You’re out to brunch with your girlfriends, how many times do you dive into a conversation about how the market is performing? How comfortable are you with all the terminology? From what I’ve seen, it’s not common to have an open conversation about investments among women. Let’s be honest; it’s just not a spicy topic to talk about. But you know what is exciting? Living your best life and hitting your financial goals! The best part is, investing will help you get there.

Knowing where to start can be paralyzing. It can feel like there is so much to learn, and the fear alone of not getting it right can prevent us from starting in the first place.

I want to help you overcome your fears, answer the questions you need answers to, and take the leap to just start.

INVESTING IS A POWERFUL TOOL… BUT HOW POWERFUL?

• It can be used to beat inflation. Inflation is the decrease in the purchasing power of our money. Basically, what you could get for $1 today is not the same as a what a $1 could buy you 30-years ago.

• It can help up reach our financial goals quicker. Someone that invests versus keeping their money in a savings account will have a lot more saved over an extended period of time.

• It’s a passive activity- Your money will work for you while you enjoy your life, without having to worry about your investment portfolio every day.

• Investing can help make-up for lost wages; Aside from things like the gender wage gap; women with children generally have to take more time off than men for things like maternity leave, doctor visits, etc.

Ultimately, by utilizing personal investments, we can make our money work for us, making it easier to enjoy life AND reach our financial goals.

Here’s a story about Jenny and Ashley*,

Jenny is 35, she makes $50,000 and has been saving 6% of her income in her employer’s pre-tax retirement plan for the last 5 years. Jenny has 30 more years until retirement. Her portfolio returns an average of 8.5% per year until retirement.

Ashley is also 35, she makes $50,000 but instead of contributing to her employer’s pre-tax retirement plan, she puts 6% of gross pay into an IRA account at her local bank that pays 1.5% annually and has been doing so for the last 5 years.

They each will have contributed $105,000 over their 35 years of saving. However, Jenny will have approximately $510,000 at retirement where Ashley will only have $138,500. The two women contributed the same amount of money, but Jenny had nearly 3.75 times the amount of money saved over Ashley.

By investing, you open yourself to greater opportunity.

BOTTOM LINE | JUST START

It doesn’t have to be overly complicated, don’t let fear stand in between you and your financial dreams. Do your research, speak with a professional and remember, you can always make changes later.

The longer you wait the more time you lose & you’ve heard it before; time is money.

Check back in a few weeks where we’ll take a deeper dive into how you can get started. I’ll help you understand the basics and use future blog posts to empower you to do things your future self will thank you for.

Carolyn Rowland is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ passionate about empowering individuals to take control of their financial landscape. “We often tend to place our own priorities on the back burner for others, resulting in sacrifices we don’t often realize we’re making.”Carolyn believes in taking a values-based approach to financial planning. “Together we’ll define what matters most to you, what you want your life to look like, and develop a plan that fits your lifestyle.”CC

Carolyn Rowland is in the Milwaukee WI, area.