Saturday, March 10, 2012
Saving Money vs. Investing Money
12:16 PM | 
By:
Andrea |
Finding the Right Balance Between Saving and Investing
Before you begin on your journey to building wealth and finding financial independence, it’s important you understand a few basics. One of the big keys is that saving and investing are two related, but independent, processes that you shouldn’t confuse. A disciplined investor could find himself with dozens of real estate rental properties but unable to pay his bills if he didn’t appreciate the balancing act between the two foundations of success.
Perhaps the best place to begin for new investors is to define the difference between saving and investing.
- Saving is the process of putting cold, hard cash aside and parking it in extremely safe, and liquid (meaning they can be sold or accessed in a very short amount of time, at most a few days) securities or accounts. This can include FDIC insured checking accounts, savings accounts, short-term certificates of deposit, or United States Treasury Bills. It can even include FDIC insured money market accounts (but not money market funds, which are not insured). The highest goal for these funds should be to keep pace with inflation but you should avoid risk at all costs.
- Investing is the process of using money (called “capital”) to buy an asset that you think will generate a safe and acceptable return over time, making you wealthier with each passing year. An investment can include anything from a small business to fine art, rare wines to gold coins, comic books to stocks, mutual funds, bonds, real estate, and antiques, just to name a few. It can also include song rights, patents, trademarks, or other intellectual property, as it is often called. Good investments are the soundest way of growing wealthy but can take time, perhaps even years, to work out because we live in an uncertain world.
How Much Should I Save Versus How Much Should I Invest?
Saving always comes first. Think of it as the foundation upon which your financial house is built. The reason is simple - unless you inherit a large amount of money, it is your savings that will provide you with the capital to feed your investments.
There are two primary types of savings programs you should include in your life. They are:
- As a general rule, your savings should be sufficient to cover all of your personal expenses, including your mortgage, loan payments, insurance costs, utility bills, food, and clothing expenses for at least six months. That way, if you lose your job, you’ll be able to have sufficient time to adjust your life without the extreme pressure that comes from living paycheck to paycheck.
- Any specific purpose in your life that will require a large amount of cash in five years or less should be savings-driven, not investment-driven. The stock market in the short-run can be extremely volatile, losing more than 50% of its value in a single year. Purchasing a home is a great example as we discussed in Best Places To Invest Your Down Payment Money.
Only after that these things are in place, and you have health insurance, should you begin investing (this really is vital – for more information on why, read Investing in Health Insurance – One of the First Lines of Defense for Your Portfolio. The only possible exception is putting money into a 401(k) plan at work if your company matches your contributions. That’s because not only will you get a substantial tax break for putting money into your retirement account, but the matching funds basically represent free cash that is being handed to you on a silver tray.
More Information About Saving Money
For more information about how you can begin saving money, read The Complete Beginner's Guide to Saving Money. It is filled with articles, resources, essays, and lessons about how to save money, how to invest money, and how to get started on the road to wealth. It may seem daunting now, but every successful self-made person had to begin by earning money, spending less than they earned, taking those savings, and putting them to work in projects that threw off dividends, interest, and rents. They are no better than you are. If you learn the same thing, and can act as rationally so as to manage your money with discipline, you can enjoy the rewards of success, just as they did. In the end, saving money comes down to simple math. It really is as fundamental as 2+2=4.
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