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[DunDunDunpachi]

By "save money" I mean: putting money into the bank for future usage/emergencies, or putting money into the stock market, or buying gold and silver, etc. Saving money means putting it in the hands of trustworthy people who will provide a return on your investment.

By "invest in yourself" I mean: putting yourself through classes, or buying useful tools that allow you to save money, or starting an online business, or investing into one of your hobbies so that it becomes a profitable venture, etc. Investing in yourself means leveraging money / borrowing money to hopefully turn it into more money through your own ingenuity and efforts.

Which one has given you the better payoff? Do you think the title is a false dichotomy and you see those as one and the same?

 

[Vicetrailia]

Everyone should have a nest egg. Everyone should load up their 401k. You shouldn't OR that against investing in yourself because most people do that. The broke actor trying to make it is an exception.

The stock market, gold/silver, and financial advisor is for people with money.

 

[Elektro Demon]

I don't know. I personally keep my money in the bank, which I don't know if it's smart. I need one good inflation and it's all gone.
I think investing in your self is probably a smarter thing to do. Education, prostitutes, drugs etc. Everyone has their own type of investing.

 

[ValiantTraveler]

Ideally both, but don’t go overboard with investing in yourself. If you’re going to start a side hustle, set an amount of money you can afford to lose without hurting your situation. Don’t quit your job unless you have a lot of money saved and you really know what you’re doing. Most ventures end up in failure. If you’re going to invest in education, make sure the career prospects are at least good.

Then again, sometimes investing in yourself can be as simple as reading books or learning a skill during spare time, little by little, which costs time but not too much money. Depends on each person’s definition of investing in themselves.

 

[Papa]

Mix of both. I'm done investing in myself education-wise after 10 years of uni and am now just focusing on money / building a family. I'm really skeptical about the future of the Australian economy given our dependence on China as a trading partner. If they fall, it may be in the world's best interests, but as an Aussie it means I fall with them. My assets are pretty well diversified across property, ETFs and savings so I'm comfortable that I'll be okish. The uncertainty is a killer though.

 

[GobbledeeGoo]

By "save money" I mean: putting money into the bank for future usage/emergencies, or putting money into the stock market, or buying gold and silver, etc. Saving money means putting it in the hands of trustworthy people who will provide a return on your investment.

By "invest in yourself" I mean: putting yourself through classes, or buying useful tools that allow you to save money, or starting an online business, or investing into one of your hobbies so that it becomes a profitable venture, etc. Investing in yourself means leveraging money / borrowing money to hopefully turn it into more money through your own ingenuity and efforts.

Which one has given you the better payoff? Do you think the title is a false dichotomy and you see those as one and the same?

Think it entirely depends on how much you're capable of putting aside on a weekly basis. Assuming it's not enough to add up to a large sum for your older years, it's more beneficial to invest in yourself in the short term so you'll be able to put aside more in the future.

 

[GeorgPrime]

By "save money" I mean: putting money into the bank for future usage/emergencies, or putting money into the stock market, or buying gold and silver, etc. Saving money means putting it in the hands of trustworthy people who will provide a return on your investment.

By "invest in yourself" I mean: putting yourself through classes, or buying useful tools that allow you to save money, or starting an online business, or investing into one of your hobbies so that it becomes a profitable venture, etc. Investing in yourself means leveraging money / borrowing money to hopefully turn it into more money through your own ingenuity and efforts.

Which one has given you the better payoff? Do you think the title is a false dichotomy and you see those as one and the same?

In Germany you are being punished fir sabing money on the bank. The longer it stays there the more you lose.

So its better so invest it somewhere to make more money out of it

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You are creating an artificial divide which is not correct.

If you are investing in the stock market, you are leveraging money to turn it into more money. People who are smart and good at trading in the stock market can make a lot of money quickly, people who aren't as good at this can just throw money into index funds and watch it grow over time.

No one is trustworthy with your money besides yourself. Implying a bank can be trusted with your money cannot be further from the truth, the only difference is that an average savings account has some sort of government guarantee they will protect your balance if the bank yeets it all on questionable instruments such as what happened during the 2008 financial crisis.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

Self bump for a pulse check on how people feel in a post-COVID world.

 

[oagboghi2]

.

The stock market, gold/silver, and financial advisor is for people with money.

no it is for everyone.

there is no reason not to have money in stocks

 

[BadBurger]

TLDR: I think the market is too volatile, so save. It has done me wonders these past four months in lockdown.

I've been saving. It sounds terrible, but it's true: this pandemic has allowed me to earn a lot more money than usual (able to do side contracts while working from home on my day job), as well as save. I moved my investments out of anything remotely volatile to stable long term options. I'll diversify again once this is all over.

All in all I've probably saved about $10,000 more than I usually would have over this time period thanks to the lockdown / working from home / etc. I no longer spend money on anything aside from the usual utilities and meager groceries. No vacations. No trips. No new clothes. I already had no debt to begin with.

As long as nothing drastic with my employer changes (we're very stable, so I feel safe) it's looking like that by the end of the year I may have enough liquid cash in the bank to live off of for about three years. Not counting investments or my retirement account.

 

[lock2k]

A little bit of both.

 

[Mr Hyde]

I'm just saving up for myself. Even if it takes fucking forever just getting somewhere with the money at least I'm not losing it all in the wake of a goddamn pandemic.

 

[Azelover]

A little bit of both. It's important to save, but investing in yourself is even more important imo.

A lot of things can happen with money. Especially with how they've been treating the dollar for the last 12 years.

That thing is eventually gonna pop. Might take a while, but it will.

 

[teezzy]

1. Secure some financial padding.

2. Then put everything else towards your own well being.

3. If a homeless person asks for change, say, "Get a job, hippie!"

4. Then walk away and strut your fancy new Nikes. You earned those Nikes. Who needs a heart?

 

[FreedomOfSpeech]

If you understand fractional banking you will not be keeping monies in the bank. Also money printer go brrrrrrr.

I'm going for crypto, real estate, stocks and personal skills.

 

[Ten_Fold]

Invest in yourself if you have a decent paying job and some savings. If you have a good side hustle that can grow that’s good.

 

[Bunker Hosted]

You lose 2% per year on average just holding your money in the bank due to inflation..

I would say save up 3-6 months of expenses in "Cash" (Actual cash or keep it in the bank).
If you have debts to pay, do this after you have your 3-6 month emergency fund.

Then the choice is yours, if you are happy where you are headed in your career, it would be best to start investing bi-weekly or monthly into the markets (I come from the crypto markets). Do not invest money that you are going to "need" within the next 10+ years.

If you can invest 500$ a month @ 10% APY, you will have over a million dollars within 12~ years.

 

[Super Mario]

Most people suck at both. They'd rather invest in cigarettes, coffee, etc and claim they are victims

Always invest in yourself. It doesn't even have to cost much either. I will challenge that $100 in good books will teach you more than anything else out there. If you can start a business with the right footing, do it.

With the money you earn from investing in yourself, buy low, sell high. When the economy takes a shit, stocks go down, real estate goes down. Historically, it always comes back up.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Immediate short-term: savings/liquid
Short-term: bonds/mutual funds/stocks
Long-term: mutual funds/stocks