DOING AWAY WITH INVESTMENT MYTHS

For most of us, investment is a scary word. It also comes with all other scary descriptive words such as “complexity”, “risky”, “intimidating”, “crashing”, “unpredictable” etcetera. It doesn’t help that most of us know one or two persons who has lost money while investing. You mightr know someone who knows someone that lost money – funny as it sounds.
However, today’s economy requires diversification – that is, having at least two sources of income. In order to grow wealthy, and which requires investing. Like all other scary words, there are typically a lot of myths surrounding investment, which most often serve as a deterrent factor to a first-time investor.
Until a potential investor does away with these investment myths, chances are higher that he/she will never invest. Some of the most common myths which one must unlearn before investing includes;

Only the rich invest –

This myth is the one of the most terrible and widely-recognized myths. However, it is also the most untrue. Contrary to this myth, you do not have to be flaming rich to invest. In fact, in some cases, you do not even need a steady income to start up. Globally, investment opportunities exist for as low as $5-$15 (#1000-#5000). Shares and mutual funds can also be invested in with a slightly higher amount that any determined person can easily afford, regardless of how much they earn.

You are too young or old to invest –

I always marvel whenever I hear people insinuate that age has got a lot to do with investing. Truth is, age has absolutely nothing to do with investing. Personally, I plan to introduce my children into the world of finance before they are ten years respectively. Why? Finance is an integral part of life and financial management is key to living a fulfilling life. You can invest even if you are young. If you are young, realize that you have an advantage over your older colleagues at building the kind of life you dream of. You have more time to invest. On the other hand, if you are old, never forget that you still have a shot at living the rest of your life in luxury. Life doesn’t end at forty or fifty or even sixty. Start living by investing!!!

Only the smart should invest –

Because investment opportunities are viewed as Rocky uncharted terrain, people believe that only the absolutely smart individuals should venture into it. Of course, this myth would be laughable if I haven’t found it to be so serious – I mean, too many people I know seem to believe this myth word for word. Truth is, even the biggest dummy would except in investing if he had access to the right information and/or had a proven result-oriented financial advisor. So, next time you think you are not so smart as to invest, why not think of hiring an affordable proven financial advisor or go for acquiring the right information?

You could run into debts because of its high risk –

There is no doubt that investment opportunities come with risks. It is also true that the level of risk differs for each investment opportunity. Before you invest, it is important to thoroughly understand the investment opportunity (or pay someone to understand it for you!) and analyze the level of risk associated with the investment; whether it is high or low risk, before choosing to go with it. Note that higher risks dies not guarantee high returns.
However, you can’t go into debt by investing. By investing, you are purchasing a share of ownership in a corporation in order to share in their profit, but that doesn’t mean that their debts are transferrable to you as an investor, if they run into debts or go bankrupt. Because you are just a partial investor, you will be only remotely affected by losing the money you have invested with them. Asides this downside, you are answerable to no debts that they may be owing. The good news is that you can also limit the possibility by which such a scenario can affect you simply by diversifying your investment portfolio. Yes, instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, think about investing in a lot of opportunities, no matter how small the total amount of money you want to invest in. Diversifying also increases your chances of making impressive returns.
Remember that life is a risk in itself. If you must run away from risks, why run away from a legitimate risk that has equal chances of increasing your wealth.

Only the old plan for their retirement –

Of all the myths, I find that this particular one has a far-reaching consequences than the others. Why plan for your FRAIL YEARS. when you are already old and too weak yo work? This misconception is most common in Africa, where parents view their children as assets and investments. Of course, there is nothing arguably wrong with this thought if it we’re as straightforward as it sounded, however some “investments and assets” (children) often rebel during the critical point when their parents are already old. Imagine living in a developing country which made no provisions for old people and having children who either rebelled against taking care of you as their parents at old age or actually had no means of supporting you as the “additional responsibility” that you are. How this does sound? Nice, right? I doubt it. So yes, the time to start planning for your retirement is when you are still young and have the strength to work. Set up your retirement plan as soon as you start earning a steady income, no matter how meagre it is. If you work for a company that factors in pension, do not forget to increase your contribution so that they can match it. A little money tucked away here and there for frail times would surely make no difference, right?

Now that you have successfully done away with the various investment myths, our next article in the financial series called “How to Invest and Save” would be just the propelling force you need to invest and effectively secure your future.
Until then, remember to like, share and comment. Feel free to tell us about any other investment myth you might know of and wish others to know. We just can’t wait to hear from you.

Read Also : How to attain Financial Stability.