Start doing it. Seriously dude. You aren’t getting any younger. I don’t need to bore you with the specifics of compound interest as I’ve done that many times before. Instead I need to give you a Personal Finance Pimp Slap across the face and beat some darn sense in to you. You have to start investing in your future…before your future is here.
Look, I don’t even care what you invest in, just so long as you form the habit of doing it. Maybe you think America is doomed to failure, invest in Kazakhstan. Or perhaps you want to invest in a specific companies stock…go for it (although I never would).
“But Ninja, I don’t have the ability to invest right now, I’m broke.’ Cry me a river, then go drown in it. Or better yet, go input your annual income in to this calculator and then tell me you’re broke.
Plus, who said ‘investing’ meant strictly in the stock market? Maybe you need to invest in paying down your debt more aggressively, or perhaps investing in yourself by reading a ‘self-help’ book or even exercising more.
You may subscribe to the belief “Tomorrow isn’t promised” and as a result live slightly more care free, but I’m willing to bet FOR YOU, tomorrow IS gonna come. So don’t be an idiot and start investing.
I wont tell you how to go about doing it, but here is the most recommended practice…
- Contribute to your 401K, whatever your employer will match, usually around 5% (if you get no match proceed to step 2).
- If possible, max out your Roth IRA ($5,000)
- If you still have extra cash, go back to your 401K andcontribute ( up to $16,500)
- And if you still have extra cash, take me out to dinner.
Investing doesn’t have to be hard, but it does have to happen. If you’re a 20-something reader of PDITF, and you aren’t investing in your future, do me a favor and click this link.
How old were you when you first invested? How old were you when you seriously/consistently started investing? If you aren’t, what’s holding you back (debt, medical issues, stupidity)? How simple (or complex) do you get with your investments?
