The Three Typical Excuses For Not Investing

There are so many people out there who are yet to inaugurate their investing process. Either we just don’t want to invest or we keep on delaying investing, some of us feel investing is exclusive to the rich only, some are terrified of losing, while for some investing is simply not their cup of tea. This article intends to highlight the primary factors behind this reluctance and why we should get over them.

We have come up with three primary excuses which people use to support the unwilling outlook, which are:

1. I don’t have any money to invest: “Mere pas paise nhi hai abhi invest karne ko”, “Aage ghar me shaadi a rhi hai”, “Abhi itna kharcha ho gya hai”, “Next year bonus milega, tab start karenge”, are among the usual explanations we give to ourselves for not laying the foundation stone of investing. We keep on procrastinating investing for years on back of the same justification “Lack of money”. You will not invest until the time you count investing among your other necessities. Investing isn’t about the spare money rather it’s about sparing money for our future. Our 30 earning years must provide for the 30 earning plus the 30 non earning (Retirement) years. To make it possible, an individual must start investing from the beginning of the earning years, the more we postpone, we are actually shrinking the resources of our 30 golden (Retirement) years. You don’t need lakhs or even thousands of rupees to start, you can begin investing with a Rs 500 SIP in a Mutual Fund also. What is important here is 1. Realization and 2. Intention. The investors must realize that investing is a fundamental need and he must be earnest in his approach to investing.

2. Investing will deteriorate my current quality of life: Another factor which keeps people from investing is, they feel investing will take away a significant chunk of their income, which they otherwise spend on gratifying their lifestyle needs. People, especially those who are in the early stages of their career, live a paycheque to paycheque life, they spend most of their incomes on clothes, gadgets, accessories, shoes, restaurants, etc. About investing, they feel if they carve out money for investing, they will have to compromise on their lifestyle. As described above, investing is a necessity, and about lifestyle, investing in fact will only accelerate your quality of life. As they say, “Paise se paisa banta hai”, the money you invest today will create more money for you in the future, which means an upgraded lifestyle, and it also means there will be no disruption in your lifestyle, since you have created your financial backup. If you cut one pizza and one t-shirt every month, you’ll probably have your one month’s SIP ready. Having one less pizza and t-shirt won’t hamper your quality of life today, but it will work to shape your future, for good.

3. I have Rich parents: Another logic for not investing is a well off family background. It’s great if you have a base prepared, probably you do not have to struggle in life as much as those who have to start from scratch, but it doesn’t mean that you do not need to secure your future. Never let your future rest on inheritance, and there are multiple reasons why we say this:

• You might not be a part of their Will altogether, they might donate their property to a temple, or you aren’t entitled to as much share as you were expecting; and this factor is capable of sabotaging your life.
• They may not always remain rich, they may want to help you but can’t, because the riches are gone.
• Thirdly, they may be willing to take care of your future, but what if you are gone before they do, who will take care of your family?

So, the bottomline is, never lean on your parents fortune, you have to invest for yourself for shaping your own fate.

To conclude, Investing is one thing, which should be done by everyone, according to individual financial capacities, it shouldn’t be given a pass for some lame perceptions and excuses, excuses are very easy to make, but may not be the right thing to do. Lastly, it needs commitment and intent, and not a lot of money to invest.