Sunday 25 October 2015

Your Best Investment is in Yourself

Spent some time reading the article "What's the best investment asset class? It is ourselves" (25 Oct) in the Invest section of the Straits Times today. If you want, you can read the article here as well. It talks about buying insurance and diversifying your investments to suit your job as well. Anyway, my post is not on exactly the same topic, but the article did give me ideas for this post on investing in yourself.

My idea of investing in yourself is through education and not just the formal kind either. We don't have to go for further education to consider the money spent as an investment in ourselves. Going to seminars related to our industries, taking courses or reading are also good ways to make investments in ourselves. By growing our knowledge, not only limited to our field of work, can help us to stay relevant and connected in this ever-changing world as well, which is beneficial to our careers.

We have to agree that our best asset is ourselves and our ability to work. Insurance is important for us to protect against an unexpected accident while diversifying our income streams, such as investing in different industries from those we work in, is also good to increase our protection from a job loss. Other than just thinking about protecting ourselves against losses, we should also think about growing our income and our abilities, which is something that cannot be taken away from us even during depressions and bankruptcies.

I particularly like reading because it can be done anytime I feel like improving myself. Whether it is waiting in line, lying down before sleeping or on a lazy afternoon, it is possible to read and brighten up my day with new knowledge as well. While I think going for courses or seminars may be a more effective way to learn new skills and knowledge as there is an instructor to clarify doubts, but reading is the most convenient and the easiest to squeeze into our life. This reminds me to update the interesting books page of this blog.

Before looking to invest in the stock market, bonds, etc. we should look at ways that we can invest in ourselves first.

If you have enjoyed this post and would like to receive notifications on new posts, you can subscribe to my blog via email or like this blog's Facebook page

4 comments :

  1. I agree. Effort spent on self-improvement is always a wise investment that will compound. But then act and no longer waste more of the greatest investment ally young people have: time

    ReplyDelete
  2. Learning never stops whether we are 9 or 90 years old.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Live healthily is also a way of investing in yourself. I don't mean spending unnecessary buying "organic"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Frugal Daddy,

      Agreed, forgot to add this point into the post, thanks for pointing it out

      Delete