Ask Sherry: Where can I invest money and not lose it?

You asked, and I am answering every Friday once I have enough questions!

You can ask any question using the form here.

Where can I invest $400 and not lose any money?

No risk = No reward

The whole point of investing is that you take a risk with your money, which means accepting the good (gains) with the bad (losses).

You haven’t lost anything if you don’t sell

Remember — all of this is on PAPER. Paper meaning that if you don’t sell it during a period where you’re losing money, you haven’t technically lost any money.

Nothing is 100% “safe”

You could just keep it in cash, or a high interest savings account and you wouldn’t lose any money on it technically, but over time, inflation would erode the value of that $400.

High-Interest = 2.8% (Promotional)

There is a high-interest savings rate promotion going on with Tangerine right now for 2.8% from April 3 until end of August. You can use my Tangerine key [ 32726976S1 ] to sign up and take advantage of the promotion.

You’re losing money anyway due to inflation if you don’t invest it with risk

Stick $400 under a mattress.

Wait 30 years.

With inflation, $400 today, will have the equivalent purchasing power of $99 in 30 years.

Imagine things like your electricity bill – you pay $100 a month now, in the future it could go up to $200.

What you can buy today, now for $400 will not be what you can buy in the future.

Just look at the prices in the past – $0.05 for a can of Coca-Cola, and it costs $1.00 today. Even $0.50 is a jump, but you certainly can’t find a can of Coca-Cola in the stores for $0.05.

Just look at anything – Chanel flap bag, homes, cars….

You may not want to lose it but it won’t grow

You may not want to ‘lose’ that money (why would you sell? leave it!), but it won’t grow if you don’t take some risk and invest it in the stock market, or into real estate, or into any kind of investment.

Risk = Reward.

No Risk = No reward, and in fact, you are already losing money over the years due to inflation if you DON’T invest it. A $100 today, won’t be worth the equivalent of $100 in 10 years.

NO INVESTMENT IS FOOL-PROOF

By the very nature of it being an “investment”, it is a risk, and that risk means you’ll get a reward from it.

NO TRUE INVESTMENT WILL BE GUARANTEED.

Do not fall for any tricks like that – if you are investing your money, it is a risk. If you’re not investing it, it is a bigger risk.

Conventional investments to research into:

• Index mutual funds
• Index Exchange Traded Funds
• Real Estate (rentals, AirBnBs, etc)
• Private Lending

You can start with my Investing Series here.

Still have a burning question?

You can ask any question using the form here and all of my previous Ask Sherry posts are here.