💸 What is investing & why should you invest? [Investing Month]

Welcome to Investing Month 💸

Money is a huge part of our lives, and the better we can manage it, the more choices we have. Choices like how we spend our time. Sure, we can make a bit more and spend a bit less, but one of the best time-tested ways to ensure we’ve got money in the future is to start investing. 

We have the option of leaving our money in a savings account, but unfortunately, due to a pesky thing called inflation, our money in a savings account loses value over time (remember how your daily coffee used to cost $3?!).

Every episode this month is about helping you take the first step on your investing journey (or remind you of some of those crucial lessons if you’ve been investing for a while now). We’ll take you through everything you need to know to take action and become someone who invests. 

Plus, we’ll show you through actionable tips and strategies how simple it can be to build long-term wealth without paying high fees, using complex strategies and spending hours researching.

You’re now entering your money apprenticeship, so stick around as we talk about what investing is and why it’s worth your time.

This episode is part of our Beginners Investing Month series on The Australian Finance Podcast. Just look for the episodes with the 💸 during August 2023!

✅ Check out some of the things we cover in this episode:

What is investing?

• The act of buying an asset with the resources you have today, with the expectation that it will grow over time aka “putting your money to work”

Why should you invest?

• Combat inflation → coffee example
  • A decade ago, a cup of coffee in Melbourne cost $3.50 on average, and now you’re lucky to get a $5 takeaway.
• Build wealth – how many wealthy people do you know who don’t invest or own a business? Unless they inherited it, everyone is an investor or business owner. This is what can set your family free. 
• More choices – Does money but happiness? Even if it doesn’t, I’d love to get the chance to try for myself! 

Why don’t people invest?

So why don’t people start investing? Here are three of the biggest reasons why (according to research done by the World Economic Forum recently):

1. Fear of losing money in the market
2. Lack of knowledge or find it too confusing
3. Belief that you need more money to start

What should you do before investing?

• Pay off debt – emotional and financial benefit 
• Emergency fund – cheapest insurance policy ever
• Understand the basics – you’re on your way! Make it your goal to listen to all 10 episodes and make one investment by the end! 
• Have a plan – we’ll cover this soon, but to start with, maybe you could say ‘for the first year, 80% of my investments will be in ETFs’. WTF is an ETF? That’s covered in the next episode… 

👀 In the next episode, we’re going to explore the investing universe and all the different investment options available. Plus, we’ll give you some tools to narrow this down and avoid information overload.