7 Reasons Why You Should Start Investing Early: Start Your Financial Journey Today
It’s never too early to start investing (it’s quite the opposite). The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be down the road.
Many people believe that they should wait until they’re older to start investing, but that’s not always the right choice.
John F Kennedy once said, “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.”
The same can be said about your finances – start putting them in order now, so you’re prepared for later on in life!
There are many benefits of starting a financial journey as early as possible – and we’re going to talk about a few of them right now.
As the famous Chinese proverb goes, “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is NOW.”
In this guide, I will give you seven reasons why you should start investing early. And, if you’re on edge and haven’t invested until now, I will also give you actionable tips to get started today because it’s never too late.
Okay, let’s jump right in.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links that might earn a small commission for Comparism, at absolutely no cost to you. The contents in this post are for informational and entertainment purposes only and cannot be considered as financial advice. I am not a financial advisor, and these tips are based on my personal experience investing in stocks and other instruments mentioned below. If you need to discuss your situation, you can find a qualified financial advisor at Unbiased or VouchedFor.
7 Reasons Why Should You Start Investing As Early As Possible
So why is it better to start investing early in life? Let’s look at the top reasons I believe you should start investing right now.
1. Take Advantage of The Magic of Compounding
One of the biggest reasons to start investing early is the power of compounding.
Compounding happens when you earn interest on your interest, and it can add up over time.
Even if you start with a small amount invested regularly, the magic of compounding can have a snowball effect, and you’ll be surprised at how much money you’ve managed to save.
Picture this: if you start investing just £50 per month at age 25, by the time you turn 65, you’d have contributed £24000 in 40 years, but, taking an average return of 7%, you would have over £119,781!
That’s compounding working its miracle.
Now, to give you a perspective into why you should start investing as early as possible, let’s look at the difference it would make in the above example if you start investing when you’re 35 vs 25 in the above example.
To save £24000, you’ll need to contribute about £67 each month (£17 more) to cover the 10-year delay.
I’ll again assume the average return for the money to grow at 7% annually.
Now, here’s the shocking part.
The same total amount invested over time (£24,000) will now grow to only £75,000 as now the money has 30 years to grow. That’s £ 44,781 less.
That’s the magic of compounding – it can make a difference over time!
The sooner you start investing, your money will have more time to grow as you leave it in the lap of the compounding gods for a more extended period.
Even a small amount invested regularly can have a big difference in the long run.
What is compounding?
Quite simply, compounding is when you earn interest on your original investment as well as on the reinvested interest. This means that the longer you allow your money to grow, the more potential for exponential growth.
For example, let’s say you invest £100 at a rate of return of five percent per year. At the end of the first year, you will have £105 (£100 plus five percent of £100). The following year, you will have £110.25 (£105 plus five percent of £105). And the year after that, your initial £100 will grow to £115.76 (£110.25 plus five percent of £110.25), and so on.
As you can see, the more time your money has to grow, the faster it will compound — and the more money you will ultimately have.
Compounding can turn a small sum of money into a large fortune over time.
2. You Don’t Need a Lot of Money to Get Started
This one ties into my above example.
Because you’re starting early, the amount you need to put aside towards investments could be tiny.
In fact, you can get started with as little as £1.
Yes, that’s right. As you can see in the example I showed you above, £50 per month can make a difference over time!
So even if you’re starting with a tight budget, there’s no excuse not to start investing. You can always increase your contributions as your income goes up (or decreases) over time.
The sooner you get started, the easier it will be to make a dent in your overall savings.
Remember: the key is to start investing early and then add to it regularly! Tweet this.
3. You’ll Have More Time to Make Up for Any Mistakes
One of the great things about starting early (let’s say, the twenties) is that you still have plenty of time to make up for any mistakes.
If you invest early and something happens that causes you to lose money, you still have time to recover. But if you wait until later in life to start, you have to be more careful, and your risk-taking will likely be more limited.
Your twenties are the time to experiment and learn, so you can find the investing strategies that work best for you. The time is on your side to make up for any losses.
Plus, when you don’t start early and realise the importance of starting early later when you’re older, you could get discouraged and give up on your financial goals altogether.
Don’t let that happen to you – start investing early and reap the rewards!
Starting early means you have more time to perfect your skills, learn about the market, and make informed decisions.
4. You’ll Have More Years to Enjoy Your Money
Another benefit of starting early is that you’ll have more years to enjoy your money. If you wait until your thirties or forties to begin investing, you’ll likely have less time to let your money grow.
And once you reach retirement age, you may not want to keep all of your money in investments – you may want to use it to enjoy your retirement!
But if you start early, you’ll have plenty of time to let your money grow, and you can use it in whichever way you please when you reach retirement age.
5. You’re in a Lower Tax Bracket
If you start investing in your twenties, you’ll likely be in a lower tax bracket than you will be when you’re older.
That means you’ll pay less tax on your investment income, which can add up over time.
In the UK, you can invest up to £20,000 in an ISA, and any profits or dividends you earn wrapped in the ISA are entirely tax-free.
Also, any profits you generate on assets up to £12,300 carries no tax under the Capital Gains Tax (CGT). So if you generate any income from disposing of assets (like cryptocurrency), you don’t pay any tax on this amount.
6. You Can Afford to Take More Risks When You’re Young
When you’re young, you have less to lose and can afford to take more risks with your money.
That doesn’t mean you should go out and invest in high-risk stocks that could potentially lose everything.
It means you have more room for errors than if you were investing later in life. As a result, you can afford to experiment and find the investing strategies that work best for you.
Plus, if something goes wrong, you still have plenty of time to recover.
You may be less willing to take risks when you’re older because you have more to lose.
Start early and try different investing strategies to see what works best for you – it’s the perfect time to do so!
7. You’ll Learn About Investing and Personal Finance a Lot Faster
Whilst you’re young, research has shown that your brain is more receptive to learning new information.
This means: you’ll be able to learn about investing and personal finance a lot faster than if you wait until you’re older.
Plus, the more you know about personal finance and investing, the better decisions you’ll be able to make for your future.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t learn or won’t learn new things when you’re older. You definitely can, should and will.
Until there’s life, there’s learning. Everyday.
But learning the concepts of investing and personal finance now definitely has significant benefits for your later life.
7 Actionable Tips to Start Investing As Early As Possible
Below are some actionable tips from my arsenal that will help you get started:
- Start reading about personal finance and investing: The more you know, the better decisions you’ll make for your future. Buying your first share, your first crypto investment seems to be a daunting task. I struggled as well at the start. But it doesn’t need to be that way. There are plenty of resources out there that can help you get started.
- Start small, you can get started with as little as £1: You don’t have to go all-in from the beginning, start small and increase your investment amount as you get comfortable.
- Consider commission-free share trading apps: You don’t want to be losing money in fees and hidden margins at the very start of your investment journey. It all adds up and eats into your portfolio so opt for apps like Freetrade, Trading212 or eToro that offer zero commission buying of shares.
- Invest in stocks and shares ISA or a SIPP: These are tax-efficient wrappers that can help you save for your future by taking advantage of your tax allowances.
- Set up a budget: This will help you understand your cash flow and where you can cut back on spending to invest more.
- Automatically transfer a fixed percentage of your income into savings: This will help you get into the habit of saving regularly.
- Find a financial advisor: if you’re not sure where to start, seek professional help. A good financial advisor can help you create a plan and get started on your investing journey.
Getting starting to invest can seem daunting at the start, and you don’t need to make all these changes in one day. But, even you pick a few pointers from this post and get started today, improving even 1% each day, you will have made 37.78 times improvement from where you’re today. That’s a quote from my favourite book Atomic habits that I recommend you to read.
Final Thoughts: Why You Should Start Investing Early
So there you have it – 7 reasons why you should start investing early at a young age. Of course, there are many more benefits of investing sooner rather than later, but these are the most important ones that I learned over time.
Now that you know about all these reasons, what do you do with the information?
The takeaway is this: start investing early.
It’s never too late to start, but the sooner you start, the better off you’ll be in the long run.
The bottom line is that if you want to achieve financial success, you need to start investing as early as possible. If you didn’t start young and beginning to learn the nuances now, that’s okay. Don’t wait any longer – get started today!
Start early, and you’ll be on your way to a more secure financial future!
You won’t regret it and will thank your younger self for coming across this guide and taking action!
Already investing? How has your journey been so far? What would you say to anyone who hasn’t started and is in a dilemma? Please share in the comments below or send me your thoughts on Twitter.
If you liked my post, please consider sharing it with your friends or family members who are on edge to decide to start investing. Provide them with the help they need and motivate them; you might change somebody’s life.
All the best and happy investing!
