Why Invest Early in Life?

The decision to invest early could be life-changing.

The adage “the sooner the better” has probably been heard at least once by most people.

But the adage is actually extremely accurate.

But as a species, we have a propensity to put things off till tomorrow—a tomorrow that never comes.

The same applies to investing. We follow the passage of time while waiting for the ideal opportunity, frequently ignoring the value we stand to gain if we invest early.

When we are young and have plenty of time, we indulge in living life to the fullest and frequently forget to save money and make investments for the future.

This is why many of us reflect on the past and wish we had made better financial decisions.

By getting started as soon as possible, you may maximise your investment and seek a long-lasting improvement in your financial situation.

6 Reasons Why You Should Invest Early

1. Time

Despite having little resources, young individuals do have one advantage: time.

There is a reason why Albert Einstein referred to compounding as “the eighth wonder of the world”—the capacity to increase investment by reinvested returns.

Investors can build wealth over time by using the miracle of compounding, which only needs two things.

Time and the reinvestment of earnings.

Simple compound interest pays you interest on the already earned interest.

In this manner, consistently investing your earnings raises your chances of receiving a higher return on your investment.

Those who are familiar with the idea of compound interest start making investments early in life.

By the time the investor was 60 years old, a single N10,000 investment at age 20 would have increased to over N70,000 (based on a 5% interest rate).

At age 30, an investment of N10,000 would produce around N43,000, while an investment of N10,000 made at age 40 would yield only N26,000.

Money can create more wealth the longer it is put to use.

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2. Build a Better Risk Appetite

The benefit of investing early is that it gives you time to develop your risk tolerance.

When we are young, we have more time and may take more risks without worrying about the repercussions.

Even if something goes wrong at this phase, there will still be options for recovery.

We cannot take the same risks in life if we start investing later in life, say when we are 30 because we already have a lot of responsibilities.

People who start investing later in life tend to be more cautious with their money.

Retirement-age investors may favour low-risk or risk-free investments like Treasuries and certificates of deposit (CDs).

In contrast, young adults can create more aggressive portfolios that are more volatile but have the potential to generate greater rewards.

Young investors can study investing and learn from their triumphs and failures since they have the freedom and leisure to do so.

Young folks have an advantage since they have years to study the markets and hone their investing techniques.

This is because investing has a rather steep learning curve.

Younger investors can avoid costly investment errors because they have the time to recover, just as they can tolerate higher levels of risk.

Read: Decision-Making Investment Platforms Enhancing Strategies in 2024-2025

3. Your Spending Habits Will Improve

Early investment will improve your understanding of personal money.

You gain experience in several financial areas and learn how to manage money.

This will also enable you to better control your spending patterns.

A person who begins investing early in life will be more likely to adhere to a budget and reduce spending.

This aids in developing a financial goal for you.

Over time, this reduces your propensity for impulsive purchases and expenditures.

As a result, you have more money to invest, which increases your ability to amass sizable wealth over time.

Others who begin investing later in life learn these trades later in life, which causes them to progress more slowly than people who begin investing earlier in life.

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4. Lower Living Expenses

When we start working, we have more money to invest because our bills and obligations are lower.

We don’t need to consider our spouses or kids, and parents might also be employed.

As soon as we get an income, we should begin investing, even if it’s just a little bit.

Additionally, it aids in breaking the early-life habit of overpaying for things.

We can invest more money in riskier financial vehicles like stocks and equity mutual funds if our expenditures are reduced.

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5. Tech Savvy

Because they are digitally literate, members of the younger generation can learn, explore, and use online investment tools and approaches.

Online trading platforms, chat forums, and financial and educational websites offer a wealth of chances for fundamental and technical analysis.

A young investor’s knowledge base, experience, confidence, and skill can all be enhanced by technology, including online opportunities, social media, and applications.

6. Secure Future

Early retirement planning is frequently neglected, especially by newly hired people who believe that “Carpe Diem” is the motto to live by.

But it makes sense to invest early for a secure future given the erratic market conditions and the precarious state of the world economy.

Compared to other ages, your 20s are when you have the freest time and money.

The first step is discovering your financial objectives and learning about the various investing possibilities, such as mutual funds, equities, fixed deposits (FDs), etc.

The following phase involves selecting the solutions that best meet your investment requirements based on your short—and long-term goals.

When you have time, you can search for investments for a longer period and get better returns.

Starting your investments early allows you to experiment with them, tailoring and reordering your portfolio to suit your evolving needs and financial objectives.

Additionally, compound interest works wonders in developing a sizable corpus, so the earlier you start, the less you will need to invest later.

The Bottom Line

Making wise investments is not only necessary to save for retirement.

Many investments, including those purchased in dividend stocks, can generate income throughout the course of their lifetime.

Twenty-somethings have several distinct advantages over those who put off starting to invest, including time, the capacity to withstand more risk, and chances to boost future earnings.

Starting early is advantageous, even if you have to start little.

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