Our country helps millions with Social Security disability and Medicare.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t be a better you. We all can and should strive to be better, smarter, and the best we can be. Being a lazy, irresponsible, and ignorant are sure ways to not feel good or very secure in life. Life security and a feeling of having control over our lives requires work and living higher. Living lower will sink you. Build on who you are for success and happiness. Next, you have to work. Yes, we have to work. It’s essential to life security. The person who can work and wants to work will feel better and sleep better. There are all kinds of work and not every kind of work is for everyone. Discover what kind of work you enjoy and can do and learn to do it as well as you can. Working will give you a feeling of well-being. Millions of people in America can’t work for various reasons. Disability happens, millions are handicapped by various health related issues. Our country helps millions with Social Security disability and Medicare. At least with these government assistance programs people have something on which to survive. Keep in mind that a disability income in never a ticket to prosperity. What you can afford will be very limited. However, I do know people who have done well investing in the stock market even on a limited disability income and have done amazingly well financially. Keep in mind if you are going to make a house or car payment it requires a serious income and a paying job. Try to lock into a job that you enjoy and can do. Third, save money and stay out of debt as much as possible. Buy a house you can afford and save some money every month in an IRA or 401k or whatever is available to you. Research index funds and consider buying some stock in an index fund as you can. Index fund fees are typically cheaper. I’m not a stock advisor so do your own investigating. A school teacher friend bought index fund stocks every month for years and ended up with over a million dollars in stock by her retirement. Money isn’t everything but you’ll sleep better if you know you can buy groceries tomorrow and can pay your utility bills. Finally, take a few minutes every morning and at the end of the day to be grateful. Give God thanks for all and anything you have and ask him to give you strength, wisdom and peace for the day or throughout the night.
He is the author of 13 books including Uncommon Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
This is what so many people get caught up in "Expected Returns". In other words, which investment vehicle will make more money.
In reality, this is like comparing apples to oranges. The most convenient way to compare the returns is using the S&P 500 and a Vanguard Real Estate ETF and throwing them up side by side.
If I’m being honest, I think this is a lazy methodology and it is only used because of the convenience. In general, the returns will be comparable, but it will come down to the specific investment opportunity and it is lazy to make blanket statements about returns. Obviously, you need to invest in an asset that will create a return; however, there are other items to consider such as the investing experience, diversification, taxation, risk management, liquidity, and your financial goals.
Finally, something that is often overlooked in any investment is the experience of that investment.
When I say experience, I mean how is your investment going to make you feel, affect your sleep, make a societal impact, and so on. To this point, this article has been fact-driven, but the remainder of this section is 100% my personal opinion and it is absolutely biased towards real estate.
The stock market is great for people who want to put their money into a system to generate a long-term return without having to make many decisions. I worry about people who have all of their money tied up in the stock market and/or retirement accounts that are exclusively invested in the stock market (you can use them to invest in real estate too). The reason being, I don’t trust the decision makers that control these financial markets and I would rather have my money in Main Street real estate than on Wall Street.
Real estate is great for people who want to have more control over their investment, make a societal impact, and generate long-term wealth.
I love being able to create my own business plan, to meet my residents and give them a place to call home, and the proven path to create a generational financial impact. I worry about real estate investors who think that they will be able to get rich quick and think it will be easy money.
News flash … it’s a grind. There are a lot of bad actors in the industry that only care about money, and I think that is short-sighted in that this is long-term game.
In conclusion, the answer to this question should come from within and it should complement your financial goals and individual skill set.
To me, that means I should heavily invest in real estate and opportunistically invest in the stock market. To you, that could mean an entirely different investing strategy.
I encourage you to further your research on both of these topics and seek out reputable investors that have experience with both real estate and/or the stock market. When talking with other investors, make sure that you come into the conversation with an open mind, do your best to leave your biases at the door, and give yourself the chance to create a better financial future.
