Think and Re-think Before You Let Go of Your Money

Letting your hand off your money is not as hard as earning it. You work your tail off the whole month, 5 to six days a week, just to receive what you are currently earning. That’s how hard you earned your money, only to spend it as fast as a flying jet plane on things you didn’t really thought about.

This results to shortage simply because of your failure to manage your money. When the time comes you are running out of money, you would think of ways how to earn extra. You then start thinking of investing in any option you encounter that could get you cash instantly. A get-rich-quick mentality would then trigger your emotions to invest in investments that you thought would yield immediately.

Usually these types of move aren’t thought about real hard. Before you invest you should think about it twice, thrice and many, many times over because you might only see the positive side of the investment which is earnings.

These are the factors you need to consider before you let go of your money:

• Earnings. This is arguably the most important factor for any investor. However, this isn’t the only thing to consider. An investor must weigh the rate of return to the length of time of return. Some investment vehicles are just too good to be true.
• Time and Effort. Before you invest, you must also look at the time you will spend for this income stream. If you plan to just make this part time or to make money work for you, consider the time and effort you would spend for this investment vehicle because your day job or business might suffer.
• Cost. Check your finances first before you let go of your money. This would serve as a parachute in case all things go bad. The amount you invest in case of loss, should hurt, but not starve you and your family.
• Expenses. Not all investment vehicles would give you big amounts in exchange for nothing. Expect expenses one way or another. Be it communication expense or travel expense, no matter how small it may seem, in time it will pile up. This wouldn’t be a problem if these expenses would generate you more income.
• Background of the person you invest in. There are a lot of bogus people out there. They are excellent in selling themselves and their bogus ideas. They would try to make you invest on the spot by saying that they have a limited offer.
• Background of the vehicle you invest in. Aside from the person who you will invest in, you must also check where he will use the money. It is important because you would want to know if your money would be invested in a high earning and legal vehicle. From there you could decide whether it would be a good idea to invest in or not.
• Length of time of return. Weigh the rate and length of time of return. Sometimes the rate of return is too low for the length of time of the investment. This could be considered a bad investment because you could have reinvested the money again in a different vehicle.
• Seek advices from people who have done it before.Opinions of people who have failed and succeeded in the path you will take would give you a guide line on how to do it properly. They could give you insights that you would encounter that you couldn’t see right away.
• Alternatives. There may be similar investment vehicle that have a better rate of return, or a better background of company, or a cheaper investment with a shorter time of return. List down their pros and cons.

When I say investments, this includes education (enrollment to MBA or specialization degree programs), purchasing plans (gym, telecommunications, insurance, etc.), stocks, and start up businesses. Before getting into something, consider the factors above.

Make your mind work, it's healthy. Thinking many times over is way, way better than impulsive decision making that would make you regret in the end. Let’s put a stop on that and make better choices, make better decisions that would give you a better and happy life in the end. No regrets!- DE