The Secret to Wealth

Whether you want to invest in shares or across a broad range of asset classes, unit trust funds provide you with one benefit that can be very hard for individual investors to achieve - diversification.

 

Many people invest but only some become wealthy. Why?
The mistake many people make when investing is that they treat their investment as saving.

 

Saving Versus Investing
So what is the difference between saving and investing? Saving is what you do to build up funds for something, like a holiday, and when you have the amount saved you withdraw your capital from your investment and spend it on the holiday. After the holiday you have nothing left, and start the process all over again.

But building wealth is different. People who want to build wealth invest their money for the long term in 'growth assets' such as shares and property.

Their strategy is to spend the income that the investment produces, but to leave the capital invested. They don't withdraw the capital, so it stays there growing and compounding, and producing more and more income each year.

If you do this it will take you quite a while longer initially to get to your investment goal , but in the long run you will find that the extra wait has been worth it. As the years go by, you will have an increasing additional income stream from your investments and your standard of living can rise accordingly!

 

Should I continue to retain capital in retirement?
Retaining your capital is a good strategy to use for wealth accumulation. Of course when you stop working later in life, your strategy may change. At that point it can often be beneficial to start drawing on some of your capital as well, whilst still ensuring that it will last for as long as you need it.

Investment Goal

One of the keys to successful investing is identifying your investment goals, and the time frame over which you will invest.

Investing for a specific goal

When investing money, many people have a specific goal in mind. If this is the case for you, you need to decide what time frame is attached to that goal - short term, medium term or long term?

Examples of investment goals are:

Short term (1-3 years)	- overseas holiday - car - taking time off work to care for a baby
Medium term (3-7 years)	- deposit on a house - boat - a sabbatical or extended break from work.
Long term (7+ years)	- childrens' education - holiday house - retirement/early retirement

Investing a specific amount

Rather than having a particular investment goal, some people may just be wanting to invest a certain sum of money eg. an inheritance. If you are in this situation, you need to decide what you want from that money.

Do you want to use the money in the next year or two? (in which case you are a short term investor). Or do you want a regular income? (you will need medium term income-producing investments). Or do you want it to achieve capital growth over a long period of time, and are willing to take a long term view?

Time Frame

The time frame of your goals will determine how the money should be invested.

A short term investor would be more likely to choose a more conservative investment like cash, to ensure that their capital is available in the next 1-3 years when they need to access it.

A long term investor would be more willing to invest in 'growth assets' such as shares, as they do not need to access their capital for at least 5 years, so are less concerned about short term ups and downs. They recognise that the potential returns are much higher in growth investments, and if they are held over the long term the risk is reduced.

A financial adviser can assist you to understand the types of investment most suitable for your goals.