I don't think money is the most important thing in life, but it's nice to know you have some saved or invested and can use it if you need to. I think that the two most important things in life are health and happiness. I stay healthy and happy because I don't have to worry as much about the future now that I have this money.
I didn't really understand how important it was to invest and save money until I was 23 years old. Before I was this old, I always spent all of my money and didn't care if I went bankrupt. I used to think that I could die tomorrow, so why bother saving money I might never use? I know this is kind of stupid.
At age 23, I was talking to a friend named Tim one day. He pretty much made the same amount of money as I did and lived the same way I did. Tim told me that he was thinking about buying a flat and that he was going to cash in his investment bond to help pay for the move. I was very surprised to find out that he had a bond, so I asked him how long he had had it and where he got the money to pay for it. I thought Tim would say that his parents gave him the money, but he didn't. Instead, he told me that he had saved the money himself.
Tim told me that he tries to save as much money as he can each month and usually saves at least GBP100. When he has GBP1,000 in the bank, he buys a bond with the money.
Tim impressed me a lot, and I'll admit that I was a little bit envious of his money. I then told myself that if Tim could save, so could I. I told myself that I wanted to save up GBP1,000 and planned to do so in ten months. I needed to be more careful with my money, and this would be a good way to test myself.
It didn't turn out to be that hard, and it felt good to finally have a healthy bank balance. I reached my goal of GBP1000 in just eight months. Instead of putting it in a bond, I decided to take an even bigger risk and buy some shares. I'm glad to say that after two years, the stock price of the company I chose to invest in had gone up by 60%. I have to say that this was just pure luck, since I had just guessed who to invest in. The company I chose had had a bad few years, and its share price was at its lowest level ever. I had heard that there had been some big changes at the top of the company, so I decided to take a chance based on these few facts.
That was my first time investing, and it made me want to do it again. I have been buying and selling shares and putting money into unit trusts on a regular basis for about ten years. It's also become a kind of sport or hobby for me, since I try to pick winners all the time. I've had some wins and some losses, but I've had a lot of fun along the way.
I now have a certain amount of money invested in different ways. If I have a big bill for car repairs, for example, I don't have to worry because all I have to do is sell some of the units in my unit trust. What I like about a unit trust is that you can take out all or some of your units whenever you want. With an endowment policy, you have to wait until the end of the term to get access to your money.
Before I started saving money, I used to worry a lot about what would happen in the future. How do I go about buying a house? How can I get enough money to buy a good car? These are just two of the many questions I would ask myself. I would try to ignore the questions by telling myself that I should be making more money at that point in my life.
Now, I'm very glad that I talked to Tim about that. The way I invest my money has helped me get on the property ladder and helps pay for my family's annual trip abroad. It also helps me feel better about the future and sleep better at night.
