Why You Are the Best Investor of Your Money.

It is frightening to see the same sales pitch around investing everywhere you look, knowing full well all it does is put money in the pockets of the companies and so-called gurus, rather than build the investments for their clients.

In our early twenties, my husband and I set up investment plans.  There were two sales strategies used to sell the investment plans to us.

• We could borrow against the investment to buy a property
• We would be able to retire early because the plans would be worth over a million with plenty of money for us to live on for the remainder of our lives.

We bought an investment plan each.

Fast forward five years and we were ready to buy our first home.  Applied for a mortgage only to be told we had insufficient money in the policy to borrow against it.  The investment was worth less than we had contributed.

We continued paying into the investment plan for another 5 years at which stage, new legislation meant the company had to supply us with annual statements on the value of the investment and projected value.

The first statement was an eye-opener.  After paying in $12,000 each over 10 years the investment was worth less than $2000.  Management Fees were more than the profit being made.  The investment was going down in value every year.

A chat with the company and we were told the same pitch over and over – this is a long-term investment.  It needs time to grow.  Markets do go up and down.

We cashed in the policies for $800 each having learned a big lesson. 

Take control of your own money.   

When you allow someone else to invest your money there are fees involved.  The company takes a bit to cover their running costs.  The fund managers are paid for their time managing your funds.  The sales agent gets their commission for referring you to the company.  All these fees are deducted before what’s left of your funds are invested.

When you invest for yourself, you have more control over the amount that gets invested and how it is used.

For instance, if you are investing in shares, you can allow for the trading fee, which is a nominal amount.  The important thing is, you have more direct control over the amount that goes into the investment.

For some people, the thought of learning about investing leaves them cold or panicked.  However, Zero to Millionaire, Building a Foundation is a simple strategy for learning and starting to invest with support.

With a little education, you become the best person to manage your investments.  You become the best person to decide where and how much you invest.  You become the best investor of your money.