"Investing?"

I’ve never given much thought to investing, and with all the reading I’ve been doing, I feel like I’ve been wasting my money or maybe I haven't given it the priority it should have. I’m sure there are many others just like me; it has crossed your mind, but then you just don’t take action.

One of the reasons why people should invest repeats itself on many websites. The conclusion is the idea of not having to work in the future, and it all rounds up to two ways of making money, either working for it or having your assets work for you. This means that if I do save up a certain amount of money each month, I will only receive at the end what I saved. However, I can make more money by putting that same amount each month in investment and generating even more; this can be done by earning interest or selling assets that can increase throughout time.

According to the online Chilean newspaper, Emol, a Global Investor Pulse study done by BlackRock showed that 60% of the thousand people surveyed invest their money through current and savings accounts, mutual funds (not necessarily in financial institutions), or deposits. Investing in money is very popular because money makes people feel safer, it's familiar, and people also have the misconception that currency does not lose its value. The study also showed that from the Chileans surveyed 61% don’t invest at all because they assure not to have enough money; 36% don't do it because they don’t know much about the subject. I guess Chileans are more conservative when it comes to where they invest their money.

Maybe we are far away from investing in bitcoins. I myself have to admit that it still amazes me how people can invent anything nowadays, and with smart people behind it and good advertisement, people will just believe it. This is the case of Bitcoin, which reached its price because of the value people put into it.

This does not mean Bitcoin is not a good investment; it's worked very good for many. According to CNBC.com, “About 40 percent of those between 24 and 35 have at least $1,000 in their savings account. That may not sound like that much, but 19-year-old bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman says that's enough to invest in cryptocurrency. The teenager has had some luck with the cryptocurrency growing up: At age 12, Finman used a $1,000 gift from his grandmother to buy his first bitcoin and by 18, he became a millionaire. He currently owns 401 bitcoins, which equals $3.4 million at a rate of $8,512 a coin”. Nonetheless, there are always those who are skeptics with this cryptocurrency. The article also mentions “JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, famously dismissed the cryptocurrency as 'a fraud.'" At the Delivering Alpha conference presented by CNBC and Institutional Investor, he added, "It's just not a real thing; eventually it will be closed."

"I believe whether it's investing in stocks, mutual funds, real estate, or bitcoins, it's still just a matter of investigating and trusting your gut, being willing to also lose what you have invested, or gaining much more."

Hope you enjoyed it! Feel free to comment.