Snooze You Lo$e
You might think that under your mattress is the best place to keep your money, especially when bonds, CDs, and money markets do not pay enough interest; but there are other places that can still increase the value of your money IF you diligently maintain a watchful eye and are nimble enough to move into the investment vehicle that serves to your best advantage.
The goal is to keep the value of your money ahead of inflation plus have your money realize a gain that will be more profitable than under the ol’ mattress. I have found that dividend stocks of sound, secure companies with consistent historical performance (thinking McDonald’s Corp. – MCD) are a good place to consider investing your extra cash, cash that you can afford to lose if the markets are down when you need to sell.
REMEMBER: Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Let’s face it, unless your money is invested where it can grow and gain a return on investment, it will lose its buying power over time … at least that’s been the case so far … thanks to inflation. Unfortunately, the only person in charge of your financial fitness, and its success, is you. The choices you make with your money and the people, products (like mutual funds, ETFs, CDs, etc.), and programs (like the 401k and IRAs) you choose are your total responsibility.
How well your financial portfolio performs is directly dependent upon the amount of time, effort, and diligence that you devote to its performance. I know, I know … I keep repeating these requisites … but that is the point … you must be constantly, repeatedly, thoroughly involved in the process of growing your money, investing the time on a daily basis.
How does that saying go? – “If you don’t want to spend much time brushing your teeth, just brush the ones that you want to keep.” Well, I think this pretty much “sums” things up!
UPDATE: I felt compelled to come back today to this post (that I posted yesterday) in order to illustrate how fluid the circumstances can be that can affect your money and its value and, consequently, the urgency that you remain well-informed and nimble enough to respond accordingly, appropriately. – News update: McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) hits a new all-time high today and … (view video)
(video 2:56)
