Best investment advice for young adults

What’s the best investment advice for young adults who have little to no financial education?

When it comes to investments, many seem eager to give it a go, but few have the courage to actually try it. Unfortunately, this is not good news.

Everywhere you look there are people buried in student debt or struggling to pay a new mortgage or living carelessly paycheck to paycheck.

Living at home with your parents was easy, but as a young adult one must think about certain financial responsibilities.

Not only are you now responsible for your own finances, but you have to think about the future as well!

Why are young adults afraid to invest?

There used to be a time when life was so much simpler.

You finished your education, found a job and a spouse, raised a family and safely retired at 65.

Times have changed a lot since then but the mentality, not so much.

Few seniors are able to really enjoy their golden years.

The National Council of Aging (NCOA) has established that “over 25 million Americans aged 60+ are economically insecure—living at or below 250% of the federal poverty level“.

Among the common causes there’s the lack of investments or small amount of savings.

No wonder the young generation risks ending up living in poverty at an old age!

Among the common excuses young adults use not to invest their money, there’s the lack of financial education.

Unfortunately, how to wisely invest your money is not exactly taught in schools.

Anyone who’s just starting out in life is clearly confused by the amount of financial information they didn’t even knew existed!

Another common excuse not to invest is a low starting salary.

Someone who has just started out at a new job clearly earns less than the more experienced colleagues. So one might say they can’t afford to set money aside for investments.

However, it’s astonishing to see how much money the young generation pays for credit card debt or other financial mistakes.

But people who are just starting out in life have 2 amazing advantages!

First, we live in the information era.

You can’t say you can’t learn about investments when the internet is full of information and there are tons of books on financial education you can consult.

You can always go back to school or hire someone to help you better understand how investing works.

The second great advantage is time!

Young adults still have a lot of time to learn everything there is to know about how to pay off their debts, how to better invest their money or how to save as much as possible for retirement.

Time is essential.

Begin investing money as young as possible and, slow and steady, see results as you age.

Best investment advice for young adults

So, what should young adults know about investments anyway?

There are a few ‘golden rules’ you should definitely learn to respect since you are now responsible for your financial future. It’s not as scary as it sounds though. Here are some examples:

• Budget. Yes, ‘to budget’ is now a thing, unlike the old days when you didn’t really need to. It’s important to keep track of your expenses and know how much money you can afford to invest.
  

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• Save. Start saving money now. Start small, if you can’t afford much, but start somewhere. Even the smallest amounts can help in the long run.
  

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• Learn. When it comes to your financial education, don’t stop learning. Educate yourself starting as soon as possible so you’ll always know what your next financial move will be.
  

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Money has value only if you know how to spend and invest it.

You should always try and make the right financial decisions when it comes to your future.

It can be difficult at first, but once you get the ball rolling, investing your money as a young adult won’t seem so ‘taboo’ anymore.

So, the one thing to always keep in mind is this:

Start investing now!
Your future depends on the financial decisions you make today.
Don’t let fear and other excuses stand in the way of your financial security.