Most people step into the world of investing with the aim of making enough money to support their retirement plans. Some of you are here to fund your child’s college education or meet the ever-growing expenses of your family.
Making money with investing requires thorough research of the stocks or investment plan that you are planning to pour your money into and a lot of patience. You need to be aware of all the risks that come attached to money-making investments and be comfortable accepting them. Also, make sure you are not keeping all your eggs in one basket and not putting all your savings in an investment that can cause you to lose everything in the future.
1. Stocks
Trading stocks is probably the first thing that people think of investing their money for bigger returns. Most of you must have heard some story of a guy who invested 1000 rs in an upcoming stock and the value of that company skyrocketed overnight making him a millionaire. However, if you are investing in stocks thinking you too can make great profits within a day then let me remind you to be realistic. This is not how the world works.
Day trading or buying and selling shares within 24 hours are practiced when an investor wants to make quick bucks. However, if you want to fund your retirement plan that buying and holding stocks for years will be more your cup of tea. In either case, you need good knowledge of the stock market and know how to evaluate companies to be able to make money by investing in stocks.
2. Public Provident Fund
The PPF account or Public Provident Fund scheme is one of the most chosen long-term saving/investing plans that people choose when looking for retirement plans. PPF is popular among the masses primarily because of the combination of safety, returns, and tax savings it offers people. You can use PPF to build a corpus for their retirement by depositing a portion of their income every month over a period of time (PPF matures after 15 years; you can extend the tenure as per your requirement).
PPF is the safest option for small investors but it doesn’t offer big returns so the amount received at maturity might not be enough for you post your retirement if you consider the rate of inflation as well.
3. High-interest savings account
I know that nobody considers keeping money in savings account as investing but it should be a crucial element of everyone’s investment strategy. Why? It is because everyone should maintain emergency funds worth 3 to 6 months of living expenses.
This will provide for you in case of any emergency like loss of job or medical emergency. This is the first thing you should do before thinking of investing your money somewhere. You will be secured if you receive a financial hit.
You can maintain this emergency fund in a high-interest rate savings account to make some extra money while saving. When looking for a high-interest savings account, don’t forget to look at the fees as well. Banks tend to charge various fees for such accounts. You should search for fee-free accounts to keep your money safe without paying an exorbitant amount to banks.
4. Build your own side hustle
When the word investing is heard, people automatically think of the stock market. However, investing doesn’t always mean putting money in someone else’s potential but can also mean investing in your own.
You can invest in creating a passive income source for yourself. Most likely, have to spend money to make money in this case. Some side hustles are completely online and require little to no investment of money. Although you’d need to put in your time and effort to make them profitable.
5. Invest in yourself
I know this one appears obvious but some people forget about this one investment with guaranteed results. Invest in yourself. Grow your network, expand your skillset, learn new money-making skills, learn life skills that’ll help you in all aspects of your life including your finances. Spend some time each day to become 1% better than yesterday. Plan a personal branding strategy that will help you use and endorse your skills for better income opportunities. You can eventually include everything in your money-making strategy.
