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Good Investments for 2010 = Your Savings Account
Why invest in your savings account? There is almost no interest to be made. Also savings accounts aren’t cool. If you walk into a cocktail party and people are talking investments and you say, “I like to invest in my Wells Fargo Standard Savings Account.” People will look at you like you have a walrus growing out of your head. NO JOKE. But the reality is, liquid money is KING in today’s terrible economy, and if you have the power to use your money and withdrawal it quickly then you will have an advantage over other people who have locked their money away into CD’s and 401k’s etc. Basically, savings accounts are unglamorous ways of storing your money, they provide minimal return on investment and there is usually a lag time if you want to withdrawal or transfer money. But the reason why I think savings accounts are the best thing under the sun right now, is because all other investments have dumb risks involved. Why risk your money in the stock market or by trying to buy/sell silver if you know you are basically gambling your money away? CD’s are great but they require that you put your money away from anything from 3 months to 5 years. Can’t you figure out what to do with your money in order to increase your wealth? Why rely on someone else in order to invest your money?
What is the alternative to having someone else invest in your money? Well, you can always constantly increase the amount of liquid funds in your checking and savings account and then when you are comfortable invest in something directly yourself or with business partners. This may sound risky, and you will probably fail the first few times you start a business, but let’s face it, do you want to work for someone else for the rest of your life? If you don’t try to become an entrepreneur sooner or later in life you will be serving someone else’s interests until the day you either retire…or die.
People invest in themselves all the time. Some people put away part of their paychecks every month in a savings account and eventually start a business or else create a nest egg to pay for education or time off from work altogether. Think about it. If you saved $500 every 2 week paycheck for 1 year you will have saved $12,000. That’s not bad, but you can’t exactly retire on that kind of money either. But if you save $500 every 2 week paycheck for 3 years you will have saved $36,000. That’s a pretty good chunk of change. You can use that money to pay off your $30,000 car and have money to spare. Or what about finding some friends that you trust that did the same thing you did and three friends besides you saved up the same kind of money. That means together with your three friends if you all saved $500 per 2 week paychecks for 3 years you would have collectively saved $144,000! Now if you and your friends pool that money and become business partners you can start a small business where you are actually in control of the investment directly. This may seem scary at first, because you run the risk of loosing all your money if the business fails, but you can loose your money in the stock market too. Besides, that was just 3 years of saving $500 per paycheck. Big deal. You probably spend more than that at Starbucks getting Caramel Macchiato’s everyday.
We as Americans need to build up our savings and checking accounts. Savings and checking accounts are the meat and potatos of everyday financial life in America. They are a basic indicator for how you’re doing. If you can minimize or pay off your debt and then build your checking and savings accounts you will be in a healthy position to not have to work for someone else for the rest of your life. Imagine owning your own pizza parlor, or online clothing store, or selling dog food, computer parts distribution, whatever! If you actually have money in your savings account you won’t feel so poor all the time and will be able to make decisions about what you want to do with your money and life.
Other good investments for 2010 include paying off your house or car. That way you don’t have to make monthly payments on that anymore. Or what about paying off your credit cards, the interest on those puppies are brutal. Whatever you decide on, try to invest in something that you feel will give you more personal freedom rather than something that drains your accounts and makes you want to watch the stock market every 5 seconds. I know people who watch silver on the internet to watch the prices go up and down and they call their investor dudes every few hours and they act like they are having fun, but the reality is that they are just gambling and they seem super-stressed. No way am I falling for that trap. Remember, regardless of the reason why money was invented, you shouldn’t let it stress you out when you have lots of it! That’s just plain dumb! When you have money you should have easy access to it and be able to clearly see what you are doing with it and have good liquidity. All these financial advisers that tell you to diversify your portfolio into tons of stuff and then sit and watch the stock market are the same people that got everybody seriously served when the market crashed (which time am I talking about? You pick!).
There are no good get rich quick paths in the USA and frankly, do you want that anyway? You will probably feel a lot better about yourself if you make your money and then allocate part of it to savings and then invest that part in something that interests you. If you fail and loose your money, it shouldn’t break the bank because you only invested a small part of your paycheck. And if you don’t make enough money to save $500 per paycheck, then you need to focus on getting a better job! I don’t understand the people who get paychecks and they invest in 401k’s and company stock when they have no money in savings to begin with. SO WHAT if they say that they’ll match your money with stock. Are you really going to work for them for 30+ years? If so, why? What’s so good about the company that you work for that you really think you are going to enjoy working for them for 30 or more years? You will get bored. If you don’t get bored, then maybe this article isn’t for you. But deep down people stick with companies for 30+ years because they get used to it. They start a family and then get promoted and eventually they think they’re stuck. But you won’t be stuck if you save $500 or more per paycheck. If you have a high paying job and you can save $1,000 to $5,000 per paycheck then you are living fat city! You can pay off your home after a few years if you buy a modest house or condo. You can live debt free. Don’t get stuck in this stock market stress if you have the opportunity to control your money.
-Tyler
