You might have clicked onto this blog article expecting to see the next hot tip on a specific investment to allocate your money to. Unfortunately not!
Whilst I do spend a lot of time researching, reviewing and considering different types of investments and investment strategies to be able to give personalised financial advice on investing, a person’s financial situation only makes up one component of possible investments you can make.
Over the years I have often heard people say that the best investment they have made is in themselves. But what do they really mean?
They likely mean one of three things.
There are three other types of investments that I would consider to be high in terms of both benefit and impact upon someone’s life. So let’s explore them:
Learning
Some people might think that learning is confined to specific time spent in an education setting or programme such as school, university or the formal workplace training. Whilst all of those are useful and may contribute to professional success in the long term with the potential for financial rewards, this isn’t the only type of learning that we are talking about.
This could be learning a new language, learning a new skill, learning a new technique/method. Aside from the benefit of being able to undertake a new skill/activity, there have been several studies over the years that link cognitive learning to enhanced memory and application throughout a person’s lifetime.
Health
The saying goes ‘health is wealth’ and I have been both fortunate and unfortunate to see the impact of that with others over the years.
The advance is modern medicine has meant that life expectancies have tended to increase over the past few decades, but to some degree that has also resulted in people living in poor health for longer.
It has also been widely publicised that we are now living much less active lifestyles and typically unhealthier diets than ever before.
But by making small but regular deposits into the ‘health bank’ through good lifestyle habits such as quality of sleep, diet and regular movement this can hopefully enable living healthier for longer. This isn’t about taking extremes, but rather a conscious effort to maintain your health to the degree you are able to.
Experiences
Often when we think about object purchases, we can forget them over time and their value can often depreciate in value over time. However, experiences can often have the opposite effect. As Bill Perkins describes in the book Die with Zero, positive experiences can result in a ‘memory dividend’ which can repay you repeatedly throughout the remainder of your life.
Think about when you have had a positive experience such as a holiday. When you return you tell your friends, family and sometimes even just acquaintances which can have a long-lasting positive impact on your memories and how you feel about the life you have led.
If this experience is extra special it can remain with you paying out throughout the remainder of your lifetime, but even more frequent smaller experiences can have a great impact.
Each of these investments are going to be specific and tailored to you, but whilst thinking about monetary investments is important to ensuring financial independence and security, don’t forget to focus on these other types of important investment too!
*Investments carry risk.
Production