Grandpa is Playing With Risky Stocks Again
Some say you should only invest in risky stocks when you are
young and can afford to lose money. Nonsense, first of all no one can just
afford to lose money no matter how much time you think they have to recover
from bad financial decisions. I could make the same argument in reverse and say
only grandpas should invest in risky stocks since they have nothing to lose and
will soon pass anyway. You see sometime people talk just to talk and sound like
a so called expert.
The truth is you should invest in stock according to your tolerance for risk
not matter what age you are. Not matter if you are 20 or 80 if you cannot
handle the risk of investing in say a penny stock then you should steer clear
of it and find something you are more comfortable with. Simple as that.
However, either for need or hobby you find yourself in a position or attitude
to invest in such stocks then go for it. Its your money and you alone can make
those types of decisions. If you are ok with the risk then go for it. Of course
it is not risk for no reason. There is always potential, great potential, for
profits that come with those risks.
So if you are a year out from retirement should you be investing in penny
stocks? Well do you have money set aside other than you retirement funds? If so
then the answer is yes if your personality allows for that type of risk.
However, should you be investing with your retirement funds? Probably not but
this is the case with anyone who has any kind of savings, not just retirement
funds. You should never invest what you cannot afford to lose no matter how
safe the investment may seem.
Age should not be a factor when trying to determine where you to put your money
in the stock market. Heck, you could even argue that the older you are the less
time you have so the riskier your investments should be since you need profit
in a hurry. However, there should be no hard rule for this since investing is
very much a personal style and you can only do what you are comfortable with.
If you have come across purported industry experts advising against investing
in risky stocks because of your age but you feel like you can handle such
investments then I would advise to go with you gut on this. Be safe of course ,
but usually wisdom comes with age so I trust you will not do anything rash in
the first place.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
|
