Pay yourself first

Pay yourself first. This is an important rule of investing. I used to just set aside money that remained after my expenses. Not surprisingly, my savings never grew by much. I ended up using whatever funds I had managed to set aside and accumulate to pay for various unexpected (they never are expected) emergencies. Things like a sudden car repair that was needed, an emergency hospitalization, an unplanned weekend trip, etc.

But I’ve since learned better. Aside from a monthly allocation that goes to my investment in stocks, I also opted in to a coop membership and program that deducted a regular amount from my salary. The money goes into a fund that earns about 6 - 8% per annum. Not at all bad considering you don’t really think about it anymore once you get used to your adjusted ‘actual’ take-home pay.

For those who want to be more aggressive, go with stocks. 6 - 8% can be easily achieved in a good month. In fact, my best month so far was in July of this year where I made 13.26% overall on my portfolio. For those who prefer to be a passive investor, try mutual funds or, like me, investment funds offered by cooperatives.

The important thing is that you must treat investment like a utility bill that you absolutely must pay every month. Do that and your wealth-building becomes a lot easier and almost painless.