A lot of people don’t save to invest their money. To be honest it goes against most peoples’ nature.
Living within your means is difficult. Especially now with all of the advertising we are bombarded with every day.
It’s difficult to save and invest. We have to give up those shoes we want or a couple of dinners at that restaurant we really like.
It is guaranteed that you’ll have to cut your budgets in some areas to invest money.
Sometimes it can feel like a chore to sacrifice things now. To save some of the money you work hard for and not use it on yourself.
The big question is why do we save to invest? What is the purpose?
Why Do We Invest?
We Want To Be Our Own Boss
We save because if you’re like me, you don’t want to work for someone else for your entire life.
When you have a salary and no other sources of income, you become much more dependent on your job.
We save because one day we don’t want to have to punch the clock or get up extra early for that meeting someone else set.
We want the financial independence that comes with investing so that we can make our own decisions and do what we want to do.
We Want The Option To Quit
Sometimes we’re treated unfairly at work. Other times we’re asked to take on responsibilities we’d rather not.
If you don’t have a safety net built from your investments then you really don’t have an option other than to comply in your current job or find a new one.
Often we enjoy our work and want to keep working. We don’t need financial independence immediately so that we can quit.
Rather, we want financial independence for the mental relief it offers.
We would all feel a lot better about going to work if we knew we didn’t have to.
We Want To Be Wealthy
Let’s be honest, no one gets wealthy from living off of a salary. Those executives who get millions of dollars in salaries have outside investments as well.
If you want to build wealth then you need to save your money and invest.
That can be in the stock market or a market you’re more knowledgeable about.
Maybe you have an eye for art and want to collect original pieces.
You love classic cars and appreciate that the right ones can actually increase in value, unlike most new cars.
Maybe you’d love to have your own business one day, and you’re waiting for the right one to come available so you can purchase it.
You need liquidity in all these situations. You won’t be able to invest in what you want unless you have money saved and prepared to invest when the time is right.
We Don’t Want To Work Forever
Even if we enjoy our jobs now, there will be a time when we would rather pursue other things than our careers.
When you grow older spending time with your family and kids may become more pressing than getting your next promotion.
The average retirement age in the United States is 64. I’m a long way off of 64 and I can’t imagine working for someone else for that long.
When your priorities change you want to have the financial independence and flexibility to adjust your life accordingly.
Unless you’ve found your dream career you can do until you die, most of us think we’d like to retire early and spend time pursuing hobbies or crossing items off our bucket list.
Once again, we need the income from the investments we’ve made over our life to realize these dreams. None of this is possible without being financially independent.
Investing becomes easier once you have a goal in mind. Proper preparation can make difficult tasks become so much easier.
Why do you save money? What are you investing in now? What are your investing goals? Let me know in the comments below.
Author Bio
Drake is a freelance writer who’s interested in history, economics, art, & beer. Drake graduated with a degree in Supply Chain Management and began working at General Motors. He writes about popular personal finance topics and shares his journey. Make sure to check back for more posts on Abnormal Money.