Investment: Life in a Nutshell
Christina Xu
From a young age, my parents taught me about finance including inflation, debt, and more importantly, investing one’s money. By nature, money is a finicky subject: it defines the ever changing boundary and chasm between rich and poor. For low-income families, the struggle is living from paycheck to paycheck while supporting and feeding an entire family. For wealthier people, the challenge is investing one’s money so value is lost to depreciation. By storing money in a checking or savings account, it will eventually lose its value due to inflation and a minuscule return rate. However, if money is invested, not only will the value of the money be preserved, but capital gain can also be earned.
And thus, no amount of money can truly equate to a financially stable and worry-free life. In fact, money will never be able to holistically represent a measurement for happiness, yet realistically, it is also the foundation of today’s nation and economy.
I have been exposed to this concept of investing all my life, but now I realize that investing does not only apply to monetary aspects. For example, investing in my future means trading short-term loss for long-term gain. In other words, taking calculated risks and working hard while I am still young will eventually pave the way for a bountiful future where I reap the fruits of my hard work as a hard-working and contributing citizen to society. Going to college and earning a degree is simply a single stepping stone to attain this dream of mine; nonetheless, investments don’t always guarantee success or gain, and occasional loss is inevitable.
You’ve probably heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and from a financial standpoint, it means to diversify your portfolio and invest in savings accounts, stocks, bonds, real estate, and more so that losses from one form of investment is counteracted by gain from another. But from a figurative perspective, it means to be open to a variety of paths and careers. And for me, it means to explore my interests and options even in the midst of an ongoing existential crisis (due to the pressure to apply to colleges and decide on a major that prepares me for the rest of my life). I’ve always been interested in a myriad of subjects, both academic and creative, and now, more than ever, with college always on my mind, it’s become nearly impossible to pursue a single path. But that’s the way investment goes: I’ll never be able to guarantee success, I’ll never be able to see into the future, and I’ll always be faced with a forking path.
From a young age, my parents taught me about finance including inflation, debt, and more importantly, investing one’s money. By nature, money is a finicky subject: it defines the ever changing boundary and chasm between rich and poor. For low-income families, the struggle is living from paycheck to paycheck while supporting and feeding an entire family. For wealthier people, the challenge is investing one’s money so value is lost to depreciation. By storing money in a checking or savings account, it will eventually lose its value due to inflation and a minuscule return rate. However, if money is invested, not only will the value of the money be preserved, but capital gain can also be earned.
And thus, no amount of money can truly equate to a financially stable and worry-free life. In fact, money will never be able to holistically represent a measurement for happiness, yet realistically, it is also the foundation of today’s nation and economy.
I have been exposed to this concept of investing all my life, but now I realize that investing does not only apply to monetary aspects. For example, investing in my future means trading short-term loss for long-term gain. In other words, taking calculated risks and working hard while I am still young will eventually pave the way for a bountiful future where I reap the fruits of my hard work as a hard-working and contributing citizen to society. Going to college and earning a degree is simply a single stepping stone to attain this dream of mine; nonetheless, investments don’t always guarantee success or gain, and occasional loss is inevitable.
You’ve probably heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” and from a financial standpoint, it means to diversify your portfolio and invest in savings accounts, stocks, bonds, real estate, and more so that losses from one form of investment is counteracted by gain from another. But from a figurative perspective, it means to be open to a variety of paths and careers. And for me, it means to explore my interests and options even in the midst of an ongoing existential crisis (due to the pressure to apply to colleges and decide on a major that prepares me for the rest of my life). I’ve always been interested in a myriad of subjects, both academic and creative, and now, more than ever, with college always on my mind, it’s become nearly impossible to pursue a single path. But that’s the way investment goes: I’ll never be able to guarantee success, I’ll never be able to see into the future, and I’ll always be faced with a forking path.
It’s a world of chance and I guess the biggest bet I’ll ever make is the one that I place on myself.
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