It feels like no matter how hard you work, how much you read, or who you ask for advice, you’re always behind where you want to be financially. Even if you’re able to grow your money, it doesn’t feel like enough to meet your retirement goals, to pay off your debt, to cover climbing healthcare costs, or to even have a little extra for the vacation or car you’ve been eyeing.
You should never settle for “just getting by.”
That’s why investing is so important.
Whether you’re trying to fortify your retirement nest egg, increase your income, or just live your wealthiest life, you need to be investing your money.
It’s actually rather shocking just how many people are not financially ready to retire. A majority of Americans have less than $1,000 saved up. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), almost half of all families have no retirement account savings at all. Nothing.
The problem doesn’t get much better after people have had a lifetime of work under their belts either. Americans between the ages of 56 and 61 have a median savings of just $17,000. That’s not enough for one year, let alone the rest of your “golden years.”
Experts suggest having seven times your annual salary in the bank by that age.
Unfortunately, Social Security is not the answer. In 2017, the average monthly payment received by retirees was $1,386. That’s only $16,632 for a full year.
Rather than risk outliving your money, you have to think about supplementing your nest egg now.
And dumping money into a savings account, government debt, or banking on your company’s retirement plan just isn’t enough.
The FDIC reports the average interest rate on savings accounts in 2019 is just 0.09%. If you parked a whopping $100,000 into savings, you’d add a mere $450.81 in five years. Hardly enough to move the needle on your retirement account.
Treasury bonds used to be a popular choice for investing, but they hardly fare better. Since 2007, 20-year treasury bonds have returned about 15%. That would’ve turned your hypothetical $100,000 investment into $115,000.
That’s a little better, but still doesn’t cut it. Your money needs to be working for you.
You can put it to work by investing in the stock market.
Take a look at what would’ve happened if you invested your $100,000 in the S&P 500 in 2007. You’d have $265,0000 today, almost quadruple the return of the bonds.
And that’s just from a passive investment in the entire S&P 500 index. If you invested your money in the right stocks – like the ones we’ll show you how to spot today – you’d have made even more money.
If you invested $100,000 into Amazon stock in January 2007, you could have $4.6 million in your account today.
That’s why everyday Americans stand to improve their lives through investing.
It gets even better too. This is something you can do yourself. By the end of this course, you’ll be buying your first stock and laying down the foundation of a wealth-building portfolio.
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