I Want You To Start Investing For Tomorrow’s Dreams. – Millionaire on the Prairie
Invest… even if you have no current plans for your money. I know that sounds a little crazy but please bear with me. At some point, you will know what you want from your life. The AdMan and his trusty sidekick, the Creditor, are working day and night to separate from your money. They will never stop working to pry all of your money – both current money and the money you haven’t yet earned – away from you.
If you let them do this, then there won’t be enough money to make your dreams come true.
Those of you who have been reading my words for a little while know that I’m always telling you to focus on your priorities and to spend in ways that turn your dreams into your reality. I encourage everyone to know what they want from their lives. It’s easier to give up the mindless spending when you’re focused on a goal that will bring you closer to what you want to have in your life.
However, I recognize that there are always some people who won’t know what their priorities are. This post is targeted at them. To put it bluntly, invest your money even if you don’t yet know your “why”. There is no time like the present to start investing for tomorrow’s dreams.
If you don’t know where you want to be in 5-15-25 years, then I want you to invest your money anyway. That’s right. You owe it to Future You to set up an automatic transfer and to invest in a broadly diversified equity-based exchange traded fund every single time you’re paid. I don’t care if you start with $5 from each paycheque, or if you’re able to invest 75% of your take-home pay. The only thing that really matters is that you’re invest part of every dollar that you earn. Invest and don’t stop.
Why is this so important?
Excellent question! It’s important because, at some point in the future, you’re going to face a very large expense to make your dream come true and you will need the money on hand to pay for it. To be very clear, I’m not talking about insurance premiums or property taxes, nor even emergency flights home to attend a funeral. Those kinds of expenses that can be easily handled setting up sinking funds.
No, I’m talking about expenses with six-digits after the dollar sign. Do you want to start your own bakery? Maybe you want to take an extended sabbatical after having spent decades working? Perhaps there’s a piece of land that you’ve had your eyes on for a little while?
These are the kinds of dreams that cost Big Bucks. You might not have fleshed out all the details just yet, or maybe the hasn’t yet been planted. It doesn’t matter. Today is the day that you start investing for tomorrow’s dreams.
About 4 weeks ago, I received some correspondence that made my heart drop. In order for me to realize one of my lifelong dreams, I need to come up with an amount that’s just shy of $300,000. That’s a huge amount of money for me! While I do well for a single person, I’m not ever going to be on the cover of a magazine due to any vast fortune in my possession. I’m a person who started with $0 and worked my way up. It took me quite a long time to get to where I am now. I followed my own advice and it worked. Save – invest – learn – repeat.
Yet that correspondence was a gut-punch. Where on earth was I going to come up with $300,000 to make my dream a reality?
And that’s when I looked to my investments. Guess what? I was able to find the money.
Thirty one years ago, I started my investment journey by opening an RRSP. In 2009, the TFSA came into existence and I started using that too. Once I’d maxed out my contributions to my RRSP and my TFSA, I opened a non-registered brokerage account and started investing there too. Along the way, I made extra payments on my mortgage to pay it off super early. I also paid off vehicle loans and student loans. Throughout all the debt payments, I consistently saved money from every paycheque and invested it for long-term growth. When one debt was paid off, that payment was rolled into another one. Eventually, all of my debts were gone. I increased my investment amounts until I was able to save $100 per day. Along the way, I made plenty of mistakes – some of which I regret to this day. It took a very long time, but the end result is completely worth it.
Even when I didn’t know exactly what my long-term dream would be, I made the smart decision to start investing. I lived below my means for years. There were many people in my life who told me that I should be spending my money and that I had plenty of time to invest. Had I listened to those people, I wouldn’t have the money to do what I want most. By saying no to the stuff that didn’t matter to me along the way, I saved a good chunk of money while investing for the future and doing the things that meant the most to me. The result is that I’m now in a spot where I can handle this highly unexpected expense so that my dream remains intact.
I want you to be able to do the same. So even if you don’t know exactly what you want from your life in the future, please start saving for Future You. Right now is the very best time for you to start investing for tomorrow’s dreams. When the moment comes wherein you know what you really and truly want, I promise that you will not regret having chosen to invest your money. The money will be waiting there for you but only if you chose to start today.
