One of the most common excuses for not investing more money on a regular basis is “I can’t afford to”.
You simply don’t have enough spare money.
It’s not just those on modest means who say it.
We’re all prone to spend more than we should.
Not too long ago, The National asked me to comment on this topic...
If building a multi-million fund is within reach for senior international professionals.
I believe it is.
Provided you have time, get down to your plan and stick with it...
You can make it happen.
Here's how...
1. Develop strong, healthy, and effective money habits
Financial author and speaker Jason Butler says, in his experience, it’s our spending habits that are chiefly to blame.
Most wealthy people talk about their investments, not their spending.
Investing for the future always makes more sense than spending in the now.
Build your wealth so you can get and keep the life you want.
Spend less than you earn and invest wisely.
2. Increase your monthly contributions by 3% every year
The good news is that salaries and bonuses typically rise every year.
A good discipline is to commit to investing more whenever your income increases.
And not justify extravagant or unnecessary spending based on emotions.
So, what if you ARE being smart about your spending, and still want to invest more money?
Then you must look at your income.
As yourself, “can I afford this job?”
In other words: what is my desired lifestyle, including making provision for my future self, and what is the right job for that?
From there, you can work out a plan to make up for any shortages.
3. Start now
In simple terms, if you invested £8500 a month from the age of 35, and your money grew at an average rate of 7% a year after charges, you would have close to £10 million (£9.996 million to be exact) by the age of 65.
So how do you do that?
Keep things simple.
Choose a globally diversified portfolio invested in the world’s greatest companies and leave it alone.
(Apart from rebalancing once per year).
Putting enough money away regularly is essential if you want to be comfortable in retirement.
Whatever it is that’s stopping you doing that, you need to address it without delay.
