When you break down the idea of investing to its basic purpose, you’ll find that it’s not just taking your extra money and hoping to earn a decent return from it .

Investing, in essence, is simply something that you do to ensure that your future cash needs are met.  Usually that entails “squirreling” money away for future use, but it can also take the form of spending now to save later.

If you can spend some of your savings now that will result in a cut to your living costs by a certain amount, then that cost savings is equivalent to a return on your investment.  Done wisely, you can earn a return that is tax free, low risk, and higher than you could earn for equivalent risk traditional investments. Read More…