Even with the chaotic economic mess that the world economies have gotten themselves into, the lure for personal investments is still on many people's agendas. Why should this be so? To understand this question we have to go back in time to the days when hardly anybody was into personal investing.
The Post War Era
For many years after the end of WWII, most people just got by from paycheck to paycheck. The mentality towards money was that it came from hard work - period. Money was treated like cash or something comparable. People earned their money and kept the cash in their pocket, in the bank, or in a savings account. Credit was not as easy to come by, so people learned good money management skills; they lived within their means and saved a little bit when they could.
The Inflation of the 1970's
Like a bolt of lightening out of the blue, after the care free days of the 60's, the inflation of the 70's and into the early 80's affected everyone. All of a sudden, people's savings lost their value as the cost of living rose. Those most affected were the people living on fixed incomes like pensions. On the other hand, fortunes were made by those that were into personal investments - like property or precious metals.
The Financial Services Industry
As a result of all this, the financial services industry was born. All of a sudden we were bombarded with advertisements telling us where to invest our money. We were all of a sudden bewildered by the many choices of "packaged financial products" that offered us anything from timeshares and unit trusts to pension plans and offshore investments.
The Stock Market
Many people either lost money with some of these financial services or they were wary of them. So, the stock market became a place for the ordinary person to do is own personal investing. It is true that many got burned after the crash of 1987 and the mini-crash two years later. But that just made people more conscious of the fact that you had to learn the ropes of investing in the markets - after all, some were making a fortune in these times.
Opportunity for the Knowledgeable
Throughout the last half century we have seen many changes regarding investment opportunities. We now have more information than ever and we are more clued up about the stock market and trading shares. Even with the recent recession gripping the world, nothing beats the return on investment of good quality equities.
The Key to Success
Nowadays, the key to success for personal investing is knowledge. You must study how the world economies of today work and learn a few tricks of the trade. Successful personal investing starts with investing in your money education. Unfortunately, we didn't learn good money management or investing skills at school - maybe future generations should.
So, find yourself a good solid personal investment course; the Internet is a good place to search but be wary of the numerous online scams. Like I said, look for investment courses that teach you the fundamentals plus the tricks of the trade - do not look for investment schemes, make money opportunities, or anything like that. Search for knowledge and turn yourself into an investment expert for your financial independence and to safeguard your retirement.
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