As the new year and decade are ushered in, many among us are starting to think of ways to be better with our personal finances, and how to take control in order to better guarantee financial freedom and security along the road when we eventually reach retirement.
Want to take better control of your finances in 2024, and perhaps even better set yourself up for financial stability and freedom in the future? To get started, here are five different investment ideas and strategies that you might want to consider.
Start off small
If you’ve never thought about investing before, and perhaps don’t even know where to start, do some research on different aspects of investment and the different asset classes involved. Learning about the parts of investment you’re unsure of and interested in, will help you to ultimately decide on which avenue you want to go down first, and what you want to mainly focus on in your investment strategy. There are a ton of different resources out there, from online guides, to videos and apps with information.
Downloading a stock trading smartphone app can be a good way to learn on the go with minimal stakes when you’ve got a few minutes to spare, and if you feel like you waste a lot of time using your smartphone, then this can be a way of feelingly slightly more productive. There are also a ton of savings apps and assistants to help you with your spending as you go about your day, helping you to stay aware and better in touch with your finances rather than putting your bank balance to the back of your mind and then wondering why you have no money at the end of each month.
Cut down on pointless spending
There’s no better time than at the start of a new year to think about your spending habits, and what you could change and improve to help you stay better afloat financially going forward. Regular monthly payments and bills should be something that you address, to see if you can change providers or cancel them altogether if not needed, but you should also monitor the day to day spending that often goes unnoticed.
Invest in something physical
Want to put your money into a financial project that you can see flourish? Looking into a tangible, physical asset class, such as property investment, for example, can be quite rewarding. RWinvest, a property investment company from the north west of England with offerings throughout the UK, state in their guide to the buy to let investment market that the potential to make lucrative returns through long-term property purchasing is there, and many projections also show in the UK that house prices are to continue rising throughout 2024.
Consider investing in your home equity
Vacation home owner? While investing in your home can take a little work, a smart move to make is to have some equity in your home or condominium.
Remember to have a solid plan
Testing the water with small stock investments on your mobile in your free time can be a good start, but if you want to start putting some serious money that you’ve saved into a long-term, fruitful investment, then you need to have a solid financial plan in place. Strategize some short term goals and marks that you want to reach to get started, and go from there. Most of the best strategies come from investing in traditional stocks and bonds. Bonds, the major form of debt in the UK., provide stability for most people’s retirement funds.
If your goal is to retire early, you’ll probably want to consider investments in stocks and bonds. For some people, those stocks will likely provide a lifetime of income. For others, they’ll provide a solid source of retirement income. There are lots of ways to invest in stocks, and you should have no problem looking for them online.
Go for Tranquility
Don’t go with the conventional choices of stocks and bonds. Instead, look into a company that provides a unique service or product that you need and can afford.
Whole Life Insurance – Similar to the Transparent Life concept that has gained traction, Whole Life Insurance allows you to invest your entire life savings, and reinvest the dividends and interest earned in other investments. There are many small companies that offer this service, but that’s where you will need to look into options such as a fixed rate-life insurance policy, and then when you start getting older and your payments start to increase, you will pay a percentage of your life insurance benefit in investments.
Debt vs. Credit Card Debt.
It has long been my favorite investment idea: Long-term debt vs. credit card debt. It’s simple and cost-effective. Most people either have some credit card debt or have at least one long-term debt that they are trying to avoid for as long as possible. If you try to avoid credit card debt, chances are you are never going to pay it off.
Long-term debt is best because it leaves you with as much money in your retirement account as possible. When you owe more than you have in your bank account, your withdrawal rate drops because there is no real reason to spend cash.
Think about your end goal
No matter what the reason is behind your saving and investment strategies, it’s important to keep it in mind as you make financial decisions, to ensure that they’re all working towards the same goal. Those without long-term plans will sometimes invest in assets that clash with each other and contradict, and end up damaging their overall portfolio rather than helping it.
Final thoughts
Investment options are like a car. They differ a lot from one another, and it is useful to try to find a combination of that can benefit you the most, as that is what will give you the return on investment.
