Do you have what it takes to become an investor? You may not think you do if you are young, at the beginning of your professional life, or without significant savings. However, these characteristics are not an impediment to becoming an investor!
In fact, many young people are learning that they do not need to be chained down to an office for thirty years to make a great living. There are a lot of investment opportunities even for people without strong credit ratings.
Here is a breakdown of seven signs you are ready to become an investor.
1. You Want to Be Your Own Boss
Maybe you are sick and tired of someone telling you what to do, especially when they don’t seem especially qualified. Maybe you have always dreamed of being your own boss, beholden to no one but yourself.
You may be at the beginning of or the end of your career, but you know that answering to someone else is not what you want anymore.
With the economy and employment opportunities hit hard by the global pandemic, lots of people have no choice but to consider becoming their own boss.
All you need to become an investor is the desire to do so, and the willingness to learn how to do it smartly.
2. You Want to Retire Early
Maybe you have been working hard your whole life, and you want to enjoy life a little more. You want to spend time with your kids before they go to college. You want to enjoy your partner, and take advantage of all that life has to offer.
Working 9-5 for 50 weeks a year means you miss a lot of opportunities. You don’t get to travel to as many places as you might like. You are often too tired to explore other interests like art, sports, and volunteerism.
When you become an investor, you pave the way to retire early. You create passive income without having to be a slave for a salary forever.
If you plan your investments strategically, you might even be able to live better than you did on an annual salary. You can increase your income and have the time to do all of the things you have always wanted to pursue.
3. You Want to Make More Off Your Savings
Federal interest rates are around 0 percent right now. That means just putting away money into a savings account isn’t doing you much good. You might as well be stuffing it into a mattress.
Whether you have a savings account, a pension, or an annuity, you want your money to work for you. By investing wisely, your money can start generating income so you don’t have to.
Of course, the skills needed to make strategic investments that will generate income must be learned. It is not always obvious how to take advantage of ups and downs in the market, or how to tell the difference between a good investment and a risky one.
Research people who have done it successfully, from Warren Buffett to Grant Wydeven. Watch how others have taken small amounts of money and transformed them into a goldmine.
4. You Have a Few Dollars to Spare
You may think you need to be as rich as Warren Buffett to make money as an investor.
Not true! That is another myth you need to dispel so you can become a successful investor.
Everyone knows it helps to have money when you want to make money. but what if you have only a little money? The truth is, you can still make money with a small amount of seed capital to invest.
You can start really small with a strategy known as DRIP, or a “dividend reinvestment plan.” Here, you receive cash dividends from the company in which you invest and you use those to purchase more stock.
This strategy uses dollar-cost averaging. It helps you accumulate shares at a lower cost without commissions or brokerage fees.
Talk to a financial adviser about how to can start investing with what you have. You can grow a small amount into a large pot of gold.
5. You’ve Got Good Credit, or a Plan to Improve It
You also do not necessarily need fabulous credit to start investing. Some forms of investing are better suited to improving your credit than others. Real estate investing may be the answer you are looking for.
Purchasing real estate is always a great investment, whether you live on it or use it to generate income. Real estate values tend to rise pretty reliably if they are evaluated with accuracy.
You can try a variety of strategies to start your real estate investing, even if you have less than stellar credit. You can form a partnership with people with better credit, use your property as collateral, go to a private lender, or start a REIT.
Once you flip a property successfully or start collecting rents, you will see your credit improve …in addition to your own bottom line.
6. You Are At The End of Your Career . . . or the Beginning
You do not need to be on the brink of retirement to start investing. You do not need to be over fifty, with white hair, and membership in a country club
Throw away all of those preconceived notions about investing!
In fact, current economic conditions are encouraging more and more young people to dip into investing. And millennials and Gen Z are also making some innovations, such as pushing to investing in companies with a commitment to being green or supporting social justice.
7. You Want to Forge Your Own Path
You may not think you look like the typical Wall Street investor because you are young, female, a racial minority, or a million other reasons. Now is the time to throw out all of those myths.
Blacks and other racial minorities are starting to invest more than ever. With so many options available beyond the old fashioned investment bank model, everyone now can consider investing as a viable income option.
Become an Investor: You, Too, Can Do It
Anyone can become an investor, whether you are young or old, rich or poor, educated in the Ivy League, or the School of Hard Knocks. So long as you do your research and learn how to do it right, investing can help you be your own boss and dictate the rules of your own life.
Interesting Related Article: “Ways to Stay Relaxed When Pitching to Investors“