5 Reasons to Invest in Your Future Instead of Upgrading Your Lifestyle is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
As a nation of consumers, many of us have an ever-growing list of things we want. Society is continuously bombarded with messages telling us we need more. Whether it’s on television, in magazines, on billboards, or window displays, the message of consumerism is all around.
Moreover, with a desire for instant-gratification, keeping your priorities straight when it comes to finances is easier said then done. Even so, the majority of individuals have bigger, more important financial goals that they ultimately forgo some of their wants for. You may wish to save up for a home, car, or other major purchases.
Again, however, being consumers, once we achieve those goals, we all to quickly begin thinking of ways we can upgrade those purchases, like acquiring a bigger home, better car, etc. Unfortunately, in wanting to keep up with the Joneses it’s easy to forget about the future. The future that is 30 or 40 years down the road. While your retirement is something that often feels too far into the future to worry too much about, it’s one of those stages of life that’ll be here before you know it.
Hence, instead of consistently trying to save up for the more immediate future, consider these five reasons why you should invest in your future instead of focusing on upgrading your life.
1. Consider Health Care Costs
Throughout life health insurance has a tendency to be a necessity. When it comes to health care costs you no doubt think of the basics like eye, dental, and overall medical and prescription. Come retirement the words medicare probably come to mind. In most cases, you may only factor in your regular health costs and few extras.
Unfortunately, as we age, our bodies are simply more prone to health issues. These may leave us with pricey rehab, surgical, or long-term care costs. Instead of leaving yourself or your loved ones in a bind, by investing in your retirement and various life and health insurance policies now, you’ll be more prepared for health-related expenses in the future.
2. You’ll Provide for Loved Ones
While your future retirement is supposed to be your time to relax and enjoy your older years, life doesn’t always go quite as we planned. And thanks to the unexpected, as grim as it may sound, the time we think we’ll have in retirement may not be as long as we thought.
That said, the costs of a funeral and organizing and estate are anything but cheap. More often than not, loved ones are left shouldering those expenses. This may leave them in debt or financial toil.
By investing in your future and retirement beforehand, you can provide enough of a nest egg not only for yourself, but for your family should they need it.
3. You Can Truly Enjoy Your Golden Years
Anywhere from the time you’re 18 to 22, you begin a long lifespan in the workforce. In fact, most of our lives are spent working. Your retirement is meant to be a break from all your hard work. It’s a time when you can finally rest. For many retirees it’s their chance to do everything they didn’t have the time for during their working years. This can be things like take vacations, pick up new hobbies, and enjoy mornings reading in their favorite coffee shop.
Depending on when you plan to retire, it’s imperative that you’ve built up your fund enough to support you. It should cover the lifestyle you hope to have for the rest of your years. By choosing to invest in your future instead of upgrading now, you can ensure that you truly enjoy your retirement and possibly upgrade then.
Should you live for now or invest for the future?
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4. Time is Your Friend
Any investment in your life takes time to grow. Most savvy investors choose to invest in riskier funds upfront. Then they taper off to safer, low-risk ones the closer they get to retirement. Like it or not, the risky investments produce the higher rewards, but they can also negatively impact your finances at times.
By choosing to plan for your future earlier, as opposed to using your income for other purchases, you have time to let your investments adjust. By investing now, you can risk putting your income in higher reward investments. You won’t feel as much of an impact should they take a hit, as they’ll have time to pick back up.
More importantly, you have time to let your retirement grow that much more, again, ensuring your set for all of retirement.
5. You Can Reduce Your Taxes
If you invest with a traditional 401(k) plan, one benefit is the ability to put away a portion of your salary pre-tax. There’s no question that income taxes take a hefty hit out of your yearly income. While necessary, there are benefits to finding ways to acquire tax deductions or tax-defer your income.
Putting away a portion of your income does reduce what you take home each paycheck. However, in many cases, the amount you contribute to retirement doesn’t create a significant impact. This is because your income is reduced less by taxes overall. Overall, by investing in your future instead of upgrading certain aspects of your life, you’ll reduce the amount you pay in income taxes.
Summary
When there are items you want to purchase now, or a bigger, more beautiful home catches your eye, the idea of saving isn’t always appealing. Moreover, with the rising cost of living, often times, the thought of putting away extra income from your paycheck can feel extra difficult. You may think you need the money more now than in the future. Most of us have the thought that we have years ahead of us to save for the day we no longer work.
However, like most things in life, those days will be here before we know it. So instead of choosing to invest in the now or choosing to upgrade your lifestyle, set yourself and your loved ones up for the future by investing in your future.
What are some ways you can ensure you’re investing in the future? How might you upgrade certain aspects of your lifestyle without spending a fortune?
5 Reasons to Invest in Your Future Instead of Upgrading Your Lifestyle is a post originally published on: Everything Finance - Everything Finance - Its all about Money!
