The best investment
Where do we start when we consider ‘investments’?
It is a question that follows us through the various stages of our life, perhaps beginning in a sweet shop where choice was so difficult, then maybe in our teen years to that first car. Then we become ‘responsible’ adults and make that big investment in a home, and for many that signifies a change, a nesting, and a quite different investment, we start a family.
However, due to marketing, and the delight we find in the fruits of our investments, we so often get hooked on the acquisition of wealth; this becomes the measurement of our performance.
Rather than follow the money, we might consider the real-life investments that we make; and consider what drives our investment portfolio.
We invest in our children, our friends, our passions, and desires; we invest in achieving and in becoming; but do we ever pause to look at what is driving our investment strategy?
Many, when the time comes, will leave behind the accumulation of their ‘investments’, but surely this is really a sign of missed opportunity rather than a measure of achievement.
Whatever we decide to invest in, if it doesn’t contribute to a better future and a more secure future for all, then maybe we should question that decision, for surely our best investment is in building a better tomorrow.
And a better tomorrow is not a tribal aspiration, it can only be “better” if it benefits all.
The perceived ‘needs’ of individuals to a large extent determine their financial investment decisions, and their anxiety determines their investment in both securities and ‘for-rainy-day’ options. However, our real needs are still quite simple, and we mostly know that friends, ‘being at one with another’, are worth more than all the toys we have accumulated.
So, we should look again, and seek what drives our investments.
For me, an investment in a better tomorrow is realised in giving children who have no opportunities like me a chance for an education; for I do look forward to a tomorrow that is better than today; and even though I don’t have the answers, those kids might be the ones with the answer.
