Passive investing vs investing in yourself

[robby]

Which is the better way to go? If you had and extra $5000, would you use that to invest in the stock market or some other financial instrument or would you invest it into yourself or an idea you had?

Do you think it's riskier to invest in yourself than the stock market? It seems to me that more people should invest in themselves and their ideas. Am I missing something?

[jmjj215]

robby,
I totally agree with you. I think investing in an idea you have gives returns far greater than the stock market over the long run. It just takes a bit of guts and courage to invest in yourself b/c you're the one who gets the blame if things don't work out. If the stock market takes a dive you can blame about a million other variables besides yourself

[gakline]

I think it also depends on what your long term goals are. I'd say, set your goals and then decide how to get there. Then spend the money to do it.

If you want to make tons and tons of money, then you should invest in yourself and eventually start a business.

If you want to set it somewhere and use it later with no work involved. Go for the stock market.

If you want to travel to Greece, invest in a language class and go on vacation.

[terry1156]

The rewards of active investing far outweigh those of passive in my opinion. Active investing does mean time and effort, but I think it is time and effort well spent. Active investing works much better for long term - due to liquidity issues, it isn't always the best for short term savings.

[skipper]

We invested in my husband whos idea was to buy distressed property and fix it up and sell at a profit we took all our savings cashed out our retirement for the first one. The second one we used the profits from the first one we now live in the third and have a very nice retirement fund and have 172,000 in equity in our home. He is looking for the fourth one now.

[mbhunter]

Originally Posted by jmjj215

...It just takes a bit of guts and courage to invest in yourself b/c you're the one who gets the blame if things don't work out...

This is absolutely true. This should not be an overwhelming fear, though. Any investment in oneself involves some risk, if only a risk of spending time and effort. This is rarely worthless, because at worst you find out that the venture wasn't for you, and you learn from it. At best, you become wildly successful, quit your day job, and have more money than you know what to do with. As long as the risks aren't uninformed, it's a good thing to try things out.

[Trillian]

I make it a habit to do both! I went back to school to get a one semester certificate that I parlayed into a home business, and then when I needed to, took a break from it to nurture other sides of me and get married and buy a house. Now, I will nurture my desire to learn more about homeowning and skills related to with free seminars at Home depot and Lowes, and then maybe invest some money into getting certified in the area of my business.

Having investments that grow money are good to help you cross new threshholds in personal growth and training, without a doubt. Not to mention helpful if you need a small business loan to grow money the other way!

[jIM_Ohio]

Originally Posted by robby

Which is the better way to go? If you had and extra $5000, would you use that to invest in the stock market or some other financial instrument or would you invest it into yourself or an idea you had?

Do you think it's riskier to invest in yourself than the stock market? It seems to me that more people should invest in themselves and their ideas. Am I missing something?

A person's #1 asset is their earning power. While you have earning power, use it, maximize it and create more of it.

The #1 thing rich people have in common is they are successful at what they do first and foremost.