Author Bio: This post is brought to you by Joshua Rodriguez, a staff writer over at ModestMoney.com. Check out his Prosper Loans review to learn more about investing in the hottest peer to peer lending network.
OK, before we get into this post, I want to let you know that I may piss some of you off. Although, that’s not my intention, I don’t mind. Sometimes tough love is the best love and that’s what I plan to give to you today. So, let’s get started with a simple question. Are you investing? If you are, cool, you’re on the right track. If not, it’s time to whip yourself into financial shape! It’s time to stop throwing pity parties, stop making excuses, and start doing what it takes to get your investments started. Why, because if you don’t, you may not be able to live comfortably when you retire.
My Response To The Most Common Excuses I’ve Heard
Excuse #1: It’s Just Not In My Budget Right Now – I’ve heard this from tons of people, including family, friends and clients. First off, just stop it! I don’t want to hear, “it’s not in my budget”. You know why? Because everyone I’ve heard this from has things in their budget they don’t need! Can you afford to go to McDonalds once per week? Can you afford to pay for those extra cable channels? What about that extra $10 a month you spend for higher speed internet when you honestly don’t see a difference?
The bottom line is, you do have money to invest. You may not have tons of money right now, but that’s OK, you don’t need tons of money. When it comes to investing, especially start up investing, every little bit counts. So stop telling me that investing isn’t in your budget! Start scraping together pennies and making it happen!
Excuse #2: I Don’t Know Where To Invest – Although this one’s not as common as the “it’s not in my budget excuse,” this is the one that pisses me off the most! So, you’re telling me that you know you have the money to invest. You’re telling me that you know investing is important. But, you top it all off with the crappy excuse that you don’t know where to invest. Come on everyone, is that really what’s stopping you?
So, why does this one get me so upset? We live in the age of the internet. All the information we need is at our fingertips. That being said, I can’t for the life of me understand why you’re letting lack of information keep you from securing a decent retirement. If you honestly don’t know where to invest, fine. I can understand that. Now, instead of telling me you don’t know where to put your money, go to Google, type in “What different types of investments are good for retirement?” and do some research. Get your reading on, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to find a good option for you!
Excuse #3: I’ll Start Investing Once I Get My Student Loan Paid Off – First off, don’t lie to me! If you’re telling me you’re waiting until your student loans are paid off, you’re procrastinating and you’ll find another reason to procrastinate when they are paid. Now that we got that out of the way…
One very important thing to remember here is that interest rates on student loans are usually pretty minimal. Paying your balance early will save you a bit of money, but will it save you as much as you would earn through investments? Chances are, the answer is no! Don’t let low interest debts stop you from investing, it just doesn’t make sense!
I Hope You Haven’t Learned To Hate Me From This Post
I know I’ve been a bit harsh here. Am I sorry about it? NO! I’m being harsh because reality is harsh. The bottom line is, if you haven’t started investing yet, you’ve already lost money. If you don’t start investing today, you’ll be losing more money. I want you to realize that. You should know that if you take 5 years away from a 40 year retirement investment that you add $150 a month to, you’re costing yourself more than $100,000 in final retirement dollars. Don’t just leave money on the table, reach out there and grab it!
Reader Question?
What is the most ridiculous excuse you’ve been given to the question, “Why haven’t you started investing yet?”
I used to make up excused for years! My main excuse was “What should I invest in?” I finally started investing and decided that I had to make an educated decision and go with it.
Thanks for stopping by MonicaOnMoney, glad you made the move to start investing!
The most ridiculous excuse I’ve heard several times is that the person expects to die before being old enough to deal with needing the returns from investments or retirement accounts. Great, plan for an early death and don’t worry about saving if you end up living past 55…ridiculous.