5 Things Everyone Wish They Knew About Investing By The Age Of 30

If you haven’t heard about it yet, investing is the secret to wealth and financial success. It’s very difficult to make a ton of money doing just one thing, that’s why most millionaires have dabbled with quite a few different things.

Investing your money can be a scary thing, but it can also be a really satisfying feeling when you do end up being successful. In this post, I share 5 things everyone wish they knew about investing by the age of 30.

1. Create a rainy day fund before anything. 

Before you can invest, you need to protect yourself from tomorrow. The first step to being a successful investor is using money that you can live without. Thus, you must create an emergency fund where you store money that can last you 6-12 months.

A rainy day fund insures you against emergencies and other casualties that life can throw at you. Once you have this fund built up, you’re ready to become an investor with the remainder of the money that you earn.

2. Understand why investing is important.

Most people think investing is just another one of those things that everyone is always telling people about. However, you really have to get it. If you put your money in the bank, that bank is taking that money and investing it without giving you any of the returns. They give you pennies on thousands of dollars.

If you end up taking your money instead of stuffing it in the bank, you can capitalize on inflation and the yearly increase that takes place and make a decent amount of cash. Think about why banks are able to offer you interest and want your money so bad. It’s so that they can make money.

3. It doesn’t take hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Most people think that they can’t invest with the salary or income that they make. However, that isn’t true. The first investment I ever made was of $500. It’s all about starting small and scaling fast when certain types of investments give you great returns.

If you’ve heard the myths that you need a ton of money to make a lot of money, that is true but that doesn’t mean you can’t start investing now. Start with whatever you can afford and move your way up over time.

4. Save for retirement now.

Last year, I created a 401K for myself. When I looked at the conservative projections of how much money I could save up by making a simple deposit of $5,000 a year into my 401K, I was shocked. We’re talking in the millions by the time I turn 60-70 years old.

The biggest thing youngsters forget to think about is their retirement. They feel as if they are way too young to worry about. Most people who do start a 401K are usually in their 40’s or 50’s, which only allows them to accumulate a fraction of the income that others who started younger are making.

5. You’re going to lose more than you win.

The thing with investing is that it isn’t a sure shot. If it was, everyone would be doing it. Most  younger people try one investment, see a loss and never invest in anything else ever again. Just because your first experience wasn’t good doesn’t mean you should completely give up.

With investing, you might end up losing more often than you win. However, your goal is to make more money than you lose. Your wins end up usually covering 4-5 of your losses so the odds are in your favor if you play the game long-term.

Conclusion

Being surrounded by wealthy individuals at a young age helped me understand and value the important of investing as soon as I could. In this post, I shared 5 things everyone wish they knew about investing by the age of 30.

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