The first step in choosing an investment is deciding what you what to achieve. For example, are you saving to provide your kids with money or a better education? Are you investing for your own retirement or just looking to make the most of your money?
Don't Leave It To Chance
For most people the main reason for investing is retirement. The Age Pension is just enough to live on, but it doesn't leave much over for all those treats you've been waiting years to enjoy. Also, the age at which you can collect the Age Pension is being pushed back.
As it stands, anyone (women and men) born after 1st January 1957 will be eligible for the Age Pension only after reaching the age of 67.
The message is clear. If you want to have control over your retirement age, and your retirement nest egg, you have to do it yourself. Relying on the government, including relying on the Age Pension, is simply leaving too much to chance.
Give Your Kids A Big Start In Life
Don't you wish that you had had a lump sum when you turned 18 or 21 to get started in life? Perhaps you did and now you realise what an enormous difference that made. Investing is most powerful when you start early and you can't invest much earlier than when you are still wearing nappies.
You might want additional funds to give your kids a better education, or to pay for university fees. With forethought and planning, investing can give you this option.
Lumping It
Many of us get a lump sum at some point in our lives. It may come from an inheritance or a bonus. You want to put it to good use but, having never invested such a large amount before, you're at a bit of a loss as to what to do.
The key here is to take it slowly. There's no need to invest everything immediately. Instead, drip your money into a variety of investments so that you can get comfortable with how they work and what level of risk and return they offer.
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