As young professionals, we might think that we’re not in the right place yet to make smart investments. And who can blame us, really? We’re just starting out with our careers, so we don’t have high-paying jobs yet. We are scraping what little money we have to cover expensive rental fees in major cities such as New York and Los Angeles. And we’re also carrying the heavy weight of our student loan debts on our shoulders. These are all true and valid. But even if this is the case, we can still make smart investments for the betterment of our future. We just need to rethink our perception of “investment.”
Now, many of us might think that investment just entails investing in real estate, cars, or in the stock market. But that’s not true at all. In reality, we can make investments that would enhance our self-care, improve our quality of life, eliminate stress, and, essentially, make us feel better about ourselves. To achieve these things, these are what we can invest in as young professionals.
Insurance
Today, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, getting medically insured is not only a common thing but a crucial one. Yes, more and more people are getting vaccinated every day. But so long as the coronavirus isn’t eradicated, then it will still pose a threat to our health. So to save ourselves the pain of covering a hefty hospital bill and taking a huge chunk of our savings, we should invest in medical insurance now.
By investing in this, we’re not only saving ourselves the trouble of paying a huge sum of money upfront. We’re also investing in our peace of mind. With medical insurance in our arsenal, we won’t have to keep on worrying about not being able to pay for hospital bills should we ever contract the coronavirus or should we ever end up in hospital for other medical reasons.
Tax Services
Unlike in other countries, the citizens of the United States are responsible for filing their own taxes. No institution, government or otherwise, will do it for them for free. But there’s one major issue: the U.S. is notorious for its complex tax system. Every year, filing their own taxes can be one of the most difficult activities (chores, even) that American adults would have to do. They would have to compute all of their expenses, fill up a lot of paperwork, and file them. But not all adults should have to go through this.
As young professionals, we should think about investing in tax services and leave all of these to the professionals. Yes, hiring an accountant to do our taxes for us is an expense that we can avoid. But it can be an investment if we think about how much time and labor that we’re saving. And plus, we’re also saving ourselves from the painful stress of filing one’s own taxes.
Continuous Learning
As young professionals who are fresh out of college, we might think that we’re done with school for good. And that may be true since we might no longer find ourselves stepping into classrooms as students. But even if we are done with the life of a student, this doesn’t mean that we are going to fully stop learning. One of the most powerful tenets of adulting is continuous learning or lifelong learning. We need to be able to keep gaining new skills and knowledge. This way, we are broadening our horizons, adding more tools to our arsenal, and finding ways to keep up with the ever-evolving workforce.
Thus, we should start considering online classes, books, and other learning resources as investments. Yes, subscribing to high-quality online classes such as those from Masterclass can be expensive. But, again, they are investments if we are thinking about using our interests for the future of our careers.
Powerful Technological Equipment
With the continuous upgrading of smartphones and computers, many believe that buying the most powerful technological equipment we can afford is a luxury—and an unnecessary one at that. But, in reality, they can be investments so long as we make smart purchases. The goal is to get a smartphone or a laptop that can last for a very long time and can do a lot of things such as edit videos, create works of graphic design, and even make music.
By honing such skills with powerful equipment, we are honing our skills, keeping up with the times, and investing in our future.
Changing our perspective on investing is the key to securing our future as early as today. We don’t need to hit a six-figure income before we could even start thinking about investing.