The majority of people probably do not understand what they are investing in or maybe they are not investing in anything. Some people may gamble invest, while others may take a more secured route. There are countless things an individual can invest in, and it is up to you to decide what is right for you. People may be investing in a 401k or an IRA and not even understand what their money is doing for them. I will break down some of the things I invest in, why I choose to invest in those, and why more people should pay attention to what they invest in.
The number one thing I invest in is myself! I know the more I learn about a topic, the better informed I can be to make the correct decision. I also know, I will work very hard to accomplish whatever it is I am working towards. So, I invested in myself when I got my college education (turned out to not be the most productive thing to do with my time and money, but we live and learn). While I was in school I took a job working construction, this allowed me to learn a skill. I took a pay cut to work this job, but looking back, it was one of my best life decisions. I continued this theme, by investing in myself to start Stable Living with my partner Ryan. We grew an assisted living company from the ground up, which I eventually sold my shares to him and one of our managers. We invested our time and money into ourselves and it has paid off tremendously. My brother and I are now flipping and investing in real estate. We surround ourselves with people who know more than us and can teach us new things all the time. I spend a great deal of my time listening, networking, and researching about real estate flipping and investing.
I always choose to invest in myself first, everything else comes secondary. My investing ties into my business. I will purchase real estate and make it cash flowing. It takes work up front, but once it is complete, we have an asset we took that was under value and brought it up to a higher value. This allows us to have a well leveraged, cash flowing asset. I am big on real estate because it gives you passive income, which can make you financially free and give you a monthly paycheck. It also has debt pay down, depreciation, and tax benefits. These things can play a big role in lowering your taxable income and increasing your wealth.
Next, I invest in stocks and crypto currencies. I do this in Robinhood or Webull, I understand I will be taxed on these gains as income and I am okay with that because I research what I am investing in, to try and have a return that is worth paying income tax on. I do this so I can access the money easier and be in control of my investing. This is more of a side investment and not my long term. As we know, right now is not the best time in the crypto and stock world, so I switched my length of holding until it rebounds and starts making me money, which will put me in the capital gains category for taxes.
I used to invest in a Roth IRA but I do not like the idea of my money being tied up until I am 59.5 years old and they could increase the age of withdrawing whenever they see fit. I prefer to control my investments and put a significant amount of weight on myself to learn and perform with categories that can be liquidated. I do plan to start an HSA (Health Savings Account) for the double tax benefit.
If you do not know what you are investing in, you are not investing, you are gambling. Learn where you are putting your money and how to make it receive the best return for the amount of risk you are willing to take.
Your life Tutor
-Shaun Tutor
Tutors of Life 