Tip 27: Start investing early for 15 years

Mummies spend a lot of time thinking about the home and the children and daddies usually can not beat the maternal instincts blessed to them naturally. Traditionally, daddies are given the task to ensure finances are in order, though often times now, this is a collaborative decision making especially if both mummy and daddy contribute towards saving for the future. Investment is most of the time, a subjective matter as its viewed differently based on the personality make up of a person and his/her preferences. Yet, its important to ask certain crucial questions early on as a daddy or even before - on how much do I want to invest for my children's education, my retirement and how much risk can I handle to feel happy about investments. Risk seems like not a good word to use, but realities are that even bank saving deposits contain a certain amount of risk, if not the risk of having its value deflated by inflation. Since a larger sum of money is only needed when the children grow up from age 15 onwards, it may be a good idea to set aside money every month and plan for a long term investment.

Ever since I started working in Japan, I have been very conscious about my saving habits since I need to set up my own retirement savings plan if I will be working abroad in different countries. After having a considerable amount in my savings account that I can do without, I spoke to a financial advisor about an offshore regular savings plan where I contribute every month and invest in various growth, commodity and foreign index linked funds that would have good returns. Of course, good returns comes with higher risks, but over a long span period of 15 years or even longer (if for my retirement), then the risk will be less as the growth theory stipulates that with an earning population growing coupled with technology growth, most economies will grow over the long term period. But, the key questions to evaluate when choosing such managed investment options sold by various financial institutions are what is the surrender value should you have problems continuing savings contributions, what are the fees involved, what are the risk profiles of the investment and what type of service would you get should you emigrate to another country? These questions will help you focus on deciding the right amount of money to set aside each month that you would be comfortable with continuing your day to day life as well as deciding what type of investment options are suitable for you to ensure you have a good sleep every night. The choice of the financial investment advisory company should also be a factor to consider and a financial advisor who has good connections with other offices abroad will ensure you get good support throughout your lifetime. Insurance plans that are suitable for you is another key question since we live in a global world these days and increasingly, working abroad is not such a distant option as companies will begin to increase more joint ventures or foreign business developments and sometimes even coerce their staff to move to a foreign subsidiary. A house/property can also be considered an investment since it saves on rental expense yet produces a tangible property title you can sell should you leave that property, but it would be good to have an additional savings plan on top of commitments for housing even if it is only a small savings amount as it will grow large after 15 years. Its surely a heavy burden for daddy to evaluate such options, but starting early is always a good tip.