Confessions

I Guard My Money With My Life, So I Don't Really Invest

I was very hesitant to start my investing journey, worried that all of the money I had saved could be lost.  To me parking my money in savings accounts wasn’t so bad. I thought the interest rates were reasonable and I was happy letting my money grow there.   It wasn't as good as potential investment growth, but it was guaranteed and a lot safer.   But after a few years of leaving my savings in the savings accounts, I realised that the interest rates had dropped to almost nothing. This meant that any money I was saving was losing value, or reduced over time due to inflation. This pushed me to explore investing and I spoke to a specialist at my bank. They set up various options, always stressing that investments do carry risks but what got me over the line was when they pulled out a chart that showed the surprising returns one can get if they invest for a longer time period, for example over the last 20 years. The charts which showed a financial crisis and the upturn that happened afterwards, helped me realise that an investment isn't a quick way to make or lose money, but a long-term opportunity to grow my money. Although there are risks and the market will have a downturn, it will eventually have an upturn if you can afford to wait. I realised that the benefits of investing are possible to achieve. I also realised that it is important to diversify your investments so that if something drops, it won't impact all of your savings at once.This article is part of TSS Confessions, a weekly column where we delve into personal finance topics that are unscripted and genuine real accounts from people.