Should you be saving or investing right now?

In today’s economic climate, it’s natural to wonder whether you should be saving or investing your hard-earned money.

As a black corporate woman who is determined to build wealth and gain the financial freedom you desire, it's also important to understand the compounding implications of the financial decisions you make today.

The easiest, and 'safest' thing to do is put your money in a savings account, but we both know that financial freedom is going to require a more hands-on approach to making your money work for you.

Saving vs. Investing: What’s the Difference?

Saving is about preserving your money, usually in low-risk accounts, to ensure it’s there when you need it.

It's an important habit to put a percentage of your income into a reserve, I call it my "Overflow" fund. But once you have around 3 months of expenses saved in it, you're losing the value of your money if you continue to save in the name of 'protecting my money and keeping it safe'.

The value of $1 today is not the same as it was 5 years ago. So while you're money is earning interest, inflation is also reducing it's value. Most traditional savings funds or accounts will give you a return that barely outperforms inflation. So over time, you're losing the value of your money even though it's earning some interest.

Investing, on the other hand, involves putting your money to work in assets that have the potential to grow over time, and pay you some returns as the value of your investment grows.

Why Saving Alone Won’t Set You Free

While saving is a necessary foundation to what I call "Minimum Money Standards", it doesn’t offer the same growth potential as investing.

If your goal is to have the freedom of choice to work or not to work and live life fully on your terms, relying solely on a savings account will leave you short of your aspirations.

Investing is how you transition from maintaining your current lifestyle to creating the wealth that funds a freedom-filled life.

Should I be investing right now when the job market has a life of it's own?

There is always uncertainty. And there is always risk when it comes to investing. The question you should be asking yourself is "Am I willing to take a risk on my freedom and do the necessary due diligence to protect my investments?"

Where there is uncertainty, opportunities are also galore. Savvy investors know that downturns can present unique opportunities to buy income-generating assets at a lower price, and gain more over time.

The key is to focus on the long term and not get caught up in short-term market fluctuations.

Money is fast, Wealth is slow.

By investing with a long-term goal, you’re positioning yourself to reap the rewards when the market recovers. What comes down, always goes up. The market may never recover to where it was 10 years ago, but you will always win in the long-term when you invest your money with a long-term view. I love telling my clients that the impact of their investing decisions will be very clear 10 years from now - when the impact of interest and their minimum money standards starts to compound very quickly.

What Should You Be Investing In?

The best time to start investing is now. Even if the market seems uncertain, waiting for the “perfect” moment often leads to missed opportunities.

Personally, my favourite investment class is property. In fact, when interest rates were high last year, I made the decision to buy three properties for short-term rental investing, within the space of 8 months.

Why? Because I knew that despite the high rates, the long-term potential for cash flow and appreciation outweighed the short-term costs.

There is a reason why many billionaires have a lot of their wealth in property - this should tell you a lot.

People will always need a place to stay, and the amount of land available is not going to increase (until someone finds a way for humans to live on Mars)

How to get started

One of the best things about real estate is you don't need a lot of cash to get started. When you know how to strategically identify the right type of real estate and you have a pay check and a good credit score, you can use creative financing to get started.

This is how I went from 0 to a 1/4 million dollar wealth portfolio in 8 months - with very little cash upfront.

This is also the work that we do in my signature mastermind, Wealth Expansion.

DM me the word WEALTH, let’s chat about how we could work together to accelerate your financial freedom in the next 5 years while everyone else is working towards theirs in 30...