What Are Your Excuses for Not Investing?

We all make excuses. Most of the time, they’re pretty harmless. But you could be hurting yourself if you make excuses for not taking action in some areas — and one of those areas is investing.

Not investing, or not investing enough, can have serious consequences. In fact, a lot of people are poorly prepared financially for retirement. According to a poll done by Edward Jones, a third of working Canadians are concerned about having to work longer in order to supplement their retirement savings.
If you'd like to have the retirement you want, you'll likely need to invest. So, what’s stopping you? Here are some common excuses:

• “I’ll do it later.” The longer you wait before you start investing, the less time you have to accumulate money, and the less likely it may be that you’ll achieve your goals, such as a comfortable retirement lifestyle. If you haven’t begun investing, do it today.
• “I don’t have enough money to invest.” The cost of living is unquestionably high, and you may feel that you have just enough money to pay your bills before your next paycheck. But if you look for ways to economize, you may well be able to free up even a little money to invest each month. And then, when your salary goes up, you can increase the amount you invest.
• “Can I really accumulate enough money for my retirement?” Consider this: Going back to 1990, if you had invested $10,000 in the stocks that make up the S&P/TSX Composite, and simply held on to these stocks, you would have amassed more than $79,000 by the end of 2014. Of course, past performance of the market is not a guarantee of how it will perform in the future, and the S&P/TSX Composite is an unmanaged index and is not meant to depict an actual investment — but this illustration still shows that patient, diligent, long-term investing can produce positive results.
• “I don’t know where to begin.” If you work for a company that provides a group retirement plan, you’ve already got a great place to begin. You only need to sign up for the plan and start deferring a part of your salary, and you’re an investor. It’s also quite easy to open an RRSP, another popular retirement savings account. In any case, if you have doubts about how to get started investing, you will find it valuable to meet with a qualified investment professional.

Don’t let excuses get in the way of developing good investment habits. With time, determination and effort, you can overcome many of the obstacles you thought prevented you from becoming a full-fledged investor.

* Edward Jones does not provide tax or legal advice. Review your specific situation with your tax advisor and/or legal professional for information regarding, or issues concerning, the tax implications of making a particular investment or taking any other action.
** Insurance and annuities are offered by Edward Jones Insurance Agency (except in Quebec). In Quebec, insurance and annuities are offered by Edward Jones Insurance Agency (Quebec) Inc.

Ryan McLellan, Financial Advisor
Edward Jones Barrhaven(613) 823-3404
ryan.mclellan@edwardjones.com