It’s not how much money you make but how much money you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for. — Robert Kiyosaki
People say saving money is the key to living a contented and peaceful retirement life. However, as the number of years on our calendars increases, so do the expenses we need to live a comfortable life. Analysts say that to have a million by the time we retire, we need at least a five-digit monthly saving.
There may be several options on how our hard-earned money can grow, but only some are blessed with enough knowledge and understanding. With our pursuit of discovering an effective way to a secure future, our Integral Human Development professor introduced us to Mr. Sandy Gilles, who talked about being smart with our money and how to plan for our future.
Before the session, my mindset is to keep a portion of my monthly income in banks. However, due to the challenging economy, the money I save continues to decrease its value. Although banks are an excellent place to keep my money safely, the 0.0675-percent interest my money earns is nothing compared to the 7 percent inflation in our country.
In our session with Mr. Sandy, I learned I have other options to build my wealth, such as business, real estate and stocks. With the help of our speaker, I discovered an efficient way to maximize wealth: to have an investment portfolio with an interest rate that matches the country’s inflation rate. If our inflation rate is 7 percent, the investment I choose should give me a 7percent or more yield.
Of course, despite the session, my investment knowledge could be improved. To add to that, there are a lot of factors stopping me from investing, such as fluctuating interest rates and taxes. But with the help of our speaker, I learned how and where to invest my money. Our speaker introduced our class to time deposits, the best businesses to choose from, trading stocks, buying real property, and investing in corporate bonds.
The topic that stuck with me the most is that the more time I save, the more my money grows. Our speaker underscored that investing my money in a 30-year time frame is essential to earn better yields, which made me realize how saving money at an early age changes the game.
I also learned from our speaker that investing does not require a material upfront amount of money. What is important is that I continue to add more money annually to my investment portfolio. Another thing our speaker stressed is to ensure that I do not withdraw a single penny on that investment. He advised us to wait and let our money grow in those 30 years.
At the end of the session, I realized that I’d been keeping my money the wrong way. Although my purpose is to save for my future, the reality of decreasing values of our funds is present. Therefore, I will start my journey to comfortable life by studying more about stocks and businesses that best fit my risk appetite. I will not hesitate to seek professional advice on where to invest and grow my money. Acknowledging my lack of better understanding of investment options bridges growth for my future.
While it is true that no investment is safe, smart investing is the key to building wealth and outpacing inflation. To begin my investment journey, I will make wise decisions to take advantage of the falling stock market and invest in companies with promising growth in the following decades. More so, I will discipline myself to let my investment sit and grow. This way, I can enjoy better yields and prepare not only for mine but for my family’s future, as well.
The author is an MBA student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, DLSU. She can be reached at jan_santiaguel@dlsu.edu.ph.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
