WITH 2019 AT OUR DOORSTEP, CAN WE AFFORD NOT TO SAVE AND INVEST?

by Ilio Masprone-Publisher – Knight of the Principality of Monaco for cultural merits

MONACO Today I am asking myself, why do we have to save and invest? From where we stand today, 2019 isn’t exactly shaping up to be a stellar year for investors. But that doesn’t mean investment opportunities don’t abound. True, a falling tide lowers all ships, but not all ships reside in the same body of water. With 2019 at our doorstep, I won’t sugarcoat it: the broader market looks ugly, and investors will need to be infinitely more diligent than they’ve been over the last decade. There won’t be any free food this year; we are going to have to work for our dinner.

That said, the best investment opportunities of 2019 are already shaping up, despite the backdrop of bellwether positions selling off. You just need to know where to find them.

Start saving, form a savings habit, and pay yourself first!

On this regard, I think that the challenges we people are affording everyday are mainly three: Emergencies, Children’s Education, and Retirement. Of course, we must build up emergency savings for unexpected events.

As for investing, first we must ask ourselves if we are prone to procrastinate. Consequentely, we must start to pay ourselves first, setting a Scheduled Transfer of minimum 100€ per month to help us save before we spend. That means Nothing Saved vs/100€ per 12 months = 1200€ per year… Another example is the following: if we do think that saving and investing is something just for rich people, we must start to save a percentage of what we earn. No matter what income group we belong to, we have no excuses not to save and invest… Imagine to save and invest relatively to our earning 10% of our net salary per annum: i.e. 10% of 50.000€ is 5.000€, and so on.

Plan for short-term and long-term goals. Do we overlook the importance of saving small amounts? The answer to this challenge is that it doesn’t matter if we start small, just as long as we start saving. For instance, we can start considering the money we spend on a cappuccino every morning in a coffee-bar before going to work … 2€ for a cappuccino per day make 10€ for 5 cappuccinos per week, multiplied for 20 cappuccinos makes 400€ per month…

Open and keep an account at a bank or credit union that meets your needs. Now, if we don’t know our attitude to risk, we must get advice from specialists, not only for the large amounts, but small amounts too: this will impact our choice of savings or investments. For instance that means choosing savings and investments account with capital and return 100% guranteed vs/ Stock Market and Funds, with capital and return not guaranteed due to the market risk, but with good potential. Track your savings and investments, and monitor what you own.

The last question is if we fall prey to instant gratification. If the answer is yes, we must understand the difference between a “want” and a “need”. If we see something we like, we must not buy it immediately. If we really need it, we can go back for it. We must ask to ourselves: do I need it or do I want it? If we take our time and think about it for thirty minutes, we surely will know the answer.

And the answer will be that we can afford to Save and Invest!