I’d Like to Earn More or How to Invest Money Well

Recently, I’ve been writing a lot about everything but investments. So it’s high time to finally return to the blog’s key topic –– investing. I’ve already discussed theory, so let’s focus on practice. Let’s talk about it then — how to invest well?

Investing in Yourself or How to Invest Money Well

There are several ways you can invest your money with success. Before I move on to specific examples, though, I’d like to touch on a slightly different topic, e.g. investing in yourself. Indeed, it’s a widely discussed topic by all Polish coaches. Investing in yourself, however, is the cheapest and most promising form of investment.

Anthony Robbins once said that the need to develop and learn new skills is one of the six fundamental needs of every human being. Investing in your skills has three main advantages:

1. It’s a form of pleasure as each achievement gives you satisfaction. By winning, you feel more valued and your self-esteem gets bigger. By investing in yourself, you take up the challenge, and each win brings you satisfaction.
2. It’s a form of security and control as learning skills prepares you for a variety of circumstances. When you are prepared, you know that you can handle any, even the most difficult situation.
3. It is a form of preparing yourself to earning money, as wider knowledge and greater skills make you more valuable to employers, colleagues and clients. 

Example: my friend Łukasz worked in a store for half of his life. He earned little, worked a lot, had a terrible boss, and was surrounded by people he didn’t like. He felt worse and worse day by day. As a result, he faced a choice — he would either get depression or do something about it. He saved some money and went to social media training. It turned out that he had a knack for writing posts and campaigning. He completed the course, got a certificate, and got an internship. He was still working in the store, but he spent several hours a week in the office running campaigns. In the meantime, he was reading psychological books on self-development. What happened next? After a month of internship, he was offered a permanent job. He quit his job at the store and went to work with an agency. Books helped him open up to people and make new friends. Last time we talked he mentioned that he was meeting a friend from work. All this because he invested in himself and focused on self-development.

Specific Examples of How to Invest Money Well

Investing in yourself is a great idea, but let’s get down to business — how to make money. The investment market depends on the economic and political situation, decisions of politicians and the behaviour of investors. It’s impossible to indicate safe investments that will surely bring profit. However, there is a group of relatively safe assets that may bring profit in the distant or near future. There are some examples below: 

1. Corporate bonds — taking the Polish tax system as an example, you could come to a conclusion that states prey on small and medium-sized businesses. However, this isn’t true for global corporations. Many of them have more influence than numerous countries, which makes them almost indestructible. Therefore, investing in a company that issues bonds is highly advisable. The capital multiplication system is simple — an investor buys shares, waits as their value increases, and then sells them with interest. First, however, you should carefully check the corporation’s situation. 
2. Government bonds — it’s difficult to imagine a global corporation to bankrupt, and even more difficult — a state. Of course, there are exceptions such as Argentina or Greece, but they prove the rule. Buying government bonds is a long-term investment for a period of 2 to 10 years. After this time, you can sell your bonds with a profit of 4%, 5% or 6%.
3. Investment funds — these are other long-term assets. They allow you to invest in entire indices, i.e. the market average. The method of investment and its analysis is relatively simple so that beginner investors don’t need the help of analysts, specialists and advisers.
4. Bank deposits — the examples above are a form of long-term investments, but not everyone has time to wait that long. A short-term solution is a bank deposit that can bring income within one year. Banks are not only the backbone of the world economy, but also guarantee a profit of 6%–6.5%. Unfortunately, the “Belka’s tax” is charged from the profit which means that 1/5 of your profit goes to the state treasury.  
5. Platinum — a recent XBT analysis shows that gold’s value is slowly going down. However, this isn’t true for platinum. It’s not as prestigious as gold, but it is widely used. In addition to jewellery, it can also be used for production purposes, so it’s worth paying attention to.  
6. Alternative investment — hardly anyone knows that you can also invest in many other and quite unusual things. An alternative investment is placing your funds in luxury alcohol, works of art, collector’s vinyl records, photographs or souvenirs. Things and gadgets that have a value for collectors and enthusiasts. However, this form of investment is recommended to people familiar with the field of investment, who know how to evaluate the value of a selected asset.  

Earning Through Controlling Your Expenses

A practical, free and effective way to invest is to control your expenses. It is not uncommon for a pay check that was supposed to be enough for an entire month to be spent within two weeks. You can blame fees, bills, high taxes, etc. It is not uncommon, however, that you’re not good with money and spend it for air. In such a situation, you need to control your expenses.

You should start it with the analysis of monthly costs you incur and calculating what you spend money on and how much it is.  It’ll show you how many unnecessary credit cards, inflated bills and unfavourable subscriptions you have. Then you should analyse your bills and see if you use too much electricity, gas or water. Review your receipts as well to see if you really need everything you buy. As a result, you can find out where your money actually goes.

Once you bury the well that absorbed your funds, you’ll see that your financial situation is not so bad. Your next step should be opening a separate savings account where you’ll deposit all the money you’ll save.

Properly invested money will sooner or later return to you with a large surplus. You can invest in the aforementioned assets, but also in yourself. Training and growth give you a chance to be better at what you do, and sooner or later this will bring profit. So remember that in order to have money, you need to know how to earn it.