The Best Investment You Can Make is in Yourself

The greatest investment you can make is in yourself. Unlock your full potential, build lasting success, and create the future you deserve—starting today

INVESTING FOR BEGINNERSINVESTING

4/19/20259 min read

Introduction

In past blog posts we have discussed a variety of different accounts types, and investment choices that you can make in order to save for your future. The goal of which is to ideally one day reach financial freedom. The first couple steps to reaching financial freedom are without a doubt to save enough for an emergency fund, and then start investing. However, we argue that typical investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, real estate, GIC’s, ETFs may not actually be the best use of your valuable capital… at least initially.

Story Time

Before we explain our rationale let me tell you a story:

In 2019, I was working in an assistive role in a healthcare facility. Although the environment was great, the pay wasn’t. At this time I was making just over minimum wage. Worse yet when the pandemic hit I was laid off… Imagine that a healthcare worker laid off during a global health crisis. At the same time I was interested in investing so I made every effort to save my money. I was living in a 400 square foot apartment with my partner, and driving a used car my parents gifted me… god bless their souls. During this time I almost never ordered food, and cooked all my meals in order to save every penny. Due to all of these efforts I was able to scrape together a grand total of $200/month to invest in low cost index ETFs.

I firmly believe that regardless of your income you can start investing today. However, I can attest it is extremely difficult, especially for low income earners. I didn’t even have kids at the time so I can only imagine how tough that would have been.

Since 2019, I was able to acquire certifications that allowed me to charge a higher rate for my services. I am now able to save, and invest between $1500-$2000/month. The difference in the growth of my investment account has been night and day since then.

Why Not Traditional Investments?

The problem is that most of the investment options discussed in previous posts provide a delayed solution. You live below your means today, invest your savings, and you will one day retire with a good amount of money. Many people have become rich using this strategy… that is why we promote it. If it didn’t work then we wouldn’t promote it. You should take full advantage of this strategy when you are financially ready to do so.

However, early on in your career this may not be the best use case for your money.

The Best Investment You Can Make Period…

The truth is no investment yields a higher rate of return than the money you invest in yourself. We believe you should take the extra cash you have when you are young, and put it into your own education (ie. courses, apprenticeships, internships, etc). The economy benefits those that provide the most value. The only way you are going to increase your value in the market place is by increasing your skills, knowledge, education, etc.

For example: According to the CPA Ontario website the median CPA accountant salary is $130,000/year. Meanwhile, according to Indeed the average junior accountant makes $51,000/year.

Long Term Benefit

The benefit of investing in yourself is that you not only increase your odds of making more money today, but also having more money later. The short term benefit is obvious. If you can make an extra $1000/month today by improving your skillset, then provided you don’t increase your cost of living, you will have extra money each month to invest. However, the long term benefit is harder to grasp. This is because we have difficulty wrapping our head around the impact of compounding.

Ex.Imagine John, a 20 year old who works at a department store stocking shelves. John has three possible life decisions, each of which will yield a different financial outcome:

Option 1: Continue to work at the department store full time until he retires at 65 years of age. He invests his savings, $200/month, into an index ETF that grows at 7%/year.

  • Outcome: He retires with $689,998

Option 2: Continue to work at the department store full time until he retires at 65 years of age. He spends his savings, $200/month, for the next two years learning website design. At the end of the two years he gets a side gig designing websites for local businesses making an extra $500/month. He starts investing in year 3 into the same index ETF. He invests the $200/month he makes from the department store, and half of his income from the side gig (ie. 250/month) for a total of $450/month.

  • Outcome: He retires with $1,346,248

Option 3: He continues to work at the department store full time for the next 6 years. During this time he studies accounting at University part-time. At the end of those 6 years he become a CPA account, and is hired for a job at an accounting firm. His income increases by $3000/month. He decides to start investing half of his pay increase (ie. $1500) in the same index ETF until he retires at 65 years of age.

  • Outcome: He retires with $3,362,517

Conclusion

At the end of the day the math speaks for itself, the best investment you can make is in yourself… but you don’t have to take our word for it as much smarter people have recommended the same thing.

“Ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all other: Invest in yourself. Nobody can take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potential they haven’t used yet” - Warren Buffet

“Instead of the S&P 500, most should invest in the S&Me 500. 10x what you make rather than earning 10% on what you’ve made”. - Alex Hormozi

While traditional investments are essential, your greatest wealth-building tool is your ability to earn more. Prioritize developing valuable skills, and the financial rewards will follow.

If you liked this post then you may also like:

Disclaimer: The information discussed in this blog is not financial advice, and is meant for educational purposes only. Please consult a personal financial expert before making any financial decisions.

Citations

Introduction

In past blog posts we have discussed a variety of different accounts types, and investment choices that you can make in order to save for your future. The goal of which is to ideally one day reach financial freedom. The first couple steps to reaching financial freedom are without a doubt to save enough for an emergency fund, and then start investing. However, we argue that typical investment vehicles such as stocks, bonds, real estate, GIC’s, ETFs may not actually be the best use of your valuable capital… at least initially.

Story Time

Before we explain our rationale let me tell you a story:

In 2019, I was working in an assistive role in a healthcare facility. Although the environment was great, the pay wasn’t. At this time I was making just over minimum wage. Worse yet when the pandemic hit I was laid off… Imagine that a healthcare worker laid off during a global health crisis. At the same time I was interested in investing so I made every effort to save my money. I was living in a 400 square foot apartment with my partner, and driving a used car my parents gifted me… god bless their souls. During this time I almost never ordered food, and cooked all my meals in order to save every penny. Due to all of these efforts I was able to scrape together a grand total of $200/month to invest in low cost index ETFs.

I firmly believe that regardless of your income you can start investing today. However, I can attest it is extremely difficult, especially for low income earners. I didn’t even have kids at the time so I can only imagine how tough that would have been.

Since 2019, I was able to acquire certifications that allowed me to charge a higher rate for my services. I am now able to save, and invest between $1500-$2000/month. The difference in the growth of my investment account has been night and day since then.

Why Not Traditional Investments?

The problem is that most of the investment options discussed in previous posts provide a delayed solution. You live below your means today, invest your savings, and you will one day retire with a good amount of money. Many people have become rich using this strategy… that is why we promote it. If it didn’t work then we wouldn’t promote it. You should take full advantage of this strategy when you are financially ready to do so.

However, early on in your career this may not be the best use case for your money.

The Best Investment You Can Make Period…

The truth is no investment yields a higher rate of return than the money you invest in yourself. We believe you should take the extra cash you have when you are young, and put it into your own education (ie. courses, apprenticeships, internships, etc). The economy benefits those that provide the most value. The only way you are going to increase your value in the market place is by increasing your skills, knowledge, education, etc.

For example: According to the CPA Ontario website the median CPA accountant salary is $130,000/year. Meanwhile, according to Indeed the average junior accountant makes $51,000/year.

Long Term Benefit

The benefit of investing in yourself is that you not only increase your odds of making more money today, but also having more money later. The short term benefit is obvious. If you can make an extra $1000/month today by improving your skillset, then provided you don’t increase your cost of living, you will have extra money each month to invest. However, the long term benefit is harder to grasp. This is because we have difficulty wrapping our head around the impact of compounding.

Ex.Imagine John, a 20 year old who works at a department store stocking shelves. John has three possible life decisions, each of which will yield a different financial outcome:

Option 1: Continue to work at the department store full time until he retires at 65 years of age. He invests his savings, $200/month, into an index ETF that grows at 7%/year.

  • Outcome: He retires with $689,998

Option 2: Continue to work at the department store full time until he retires at 65 years of age. He spends his savings, $200/month, for the next two years learning website design. At the end of the two years he gets a side gig designing websites for local businesses making an extra $500/month. He starts investing in year 3 into the same index ETF. He invests the $200/month he makes from the department store, and half of his income from the side gig (ie. 250/month) for a total of $450/month.

  • Outcome: He retires with $1,346,248

Option 3: He continues to work at the department store full time for the next 6 years. During this time he studies accounting at University part-time. At the end of those 6 years he become a CPA account, and is hired for a job at an accounting firm. His income increases by $3000/month. He decides to start investing half of his pay increase (ie. $1500) in the same index ETF until he retires at 65 years of age.

  • Outcome: He retires with $3,362,517

Conclusion

At the end of the day the math speaks for itself, the best investment you can make is in yourself… but you don’t have to take our word for it as much smarter people have recommended the same thing.

“Ultimately, there’s one investment that supersedes all other: Invest in yourself. Nobody can take away what you’ve got in yourself, and everybody has potential they haven’t used yet” - Warren Buffet

“Instead of the S&P 500, most should invest in the S&Me 500. 10x what you make rather than earning 10% on what you’ve made”. - Alex Hormozi

While traditional investments are essential, your greatest wealth-building tool is your ability to earn more. Prioritize developing valuable skills, and the financial rewards will follow.

If you liked this post then you may also like:

Citations

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