The twenty-something years aren’t always known for savvy financial moves. You might be living with your parents and have most of your bills paid for. Adulting may not be too hard on you.
Call it a pipe dream, but what those years should be known for is investing. I can’t stress enough how valuable your 20s are because in the long road to retirement, saving throughout that decade is like having a lifetime supply of extra tyres. You’ll rev your returns by starting early.
If you start investing ₦20,000 every month from your 20s at a 10% average, by the time you retire, age 65, you would ₦211 million. Wait just seven years, age 30, and you have to increase that amount by 50%. Hold off until age 35 and you’ll have to save more than twice as much at 23. The lesson: invest early.
When it comes to investing, the earlier you start the better. Investing in landed properties is not something reserved for just the 30s, 40s and elderly folks, as a smart 20something, you can start investing now.
Yes, you can start investing in landed properties in your 20s. Here are 5 reasons to invest and 5 ways to do it.
5 Reasons To Invest in Land
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With Vacant Land, You Don’t Need to do Anything to the Property
Yes, you become a landlord but with zero worries on property maintenance. Forget construction! Forget renovations! You don’t need to be an expert or know anything about how to rehab a property yourself. You may just need to bother yourself with the suitability of the land for building. As long as someone else can build on the land if/when they want to, a huge part of the battle is already won.
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Raw Land is a “Hands-Off” Investment
As a 20something, you must have heard of experiences from friends or family relating to residential or commercial buildings. You really don’t want to add dealing with tenants, toilets, bugs, mold, leaking roofs, bursting pipes, broken furnaces, and the hundreds of other issues that come with owning buildings? Vacant land doesn’t involve ANY of those things. Once you buy it, it sits there, it behaves itself, and nothing happens. SIMPLE!
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Land is Very Inexpensive to Own as a Long-Term Investment
When you buy a piece of land for the right price, there are no mortgage payments to make, no utility bills to pay, the cost of property insurance is nominal and property taxes are extremely cheap. If you want to park your cash somewhere and forget about it, vacant land could be exactly the investment vehicle you’re looking for.
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You Can Build Equity for the Future
Real estate is a good investment, as you can build equity for your future through investing. Equity is an asset that is part of your net worth. you will have the leverage to acquire additional rental properties and increase your cash flow.
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They Aren’t Making Any More Of It.
Most people don’t think of vacant land this way, but the reality is that land is an extremely valuable resource with limited quantities available. Especially when you purchase land in up and coming areas, you will find yourself with a finite asset that a lot of other people want to get their hands on. Stocks, bonds and mutual funds all make sense in certain scenarios, and so does land. If you go into this with the intent of holding the right property for the long-term, it can make a lot more sense (and be a lot more profitable) than any other retirement vehicle out there.
I’ll be completely honest with you. Land investing is without question, one of the most powerful strategies you can use to build your real estate investing career.
5 Ways To Invest in Land in Your 20s
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Let your employer help you make investing Automatic
Yes, it can be difficult to say goodbye to a chunk of change from each paycheck for “someday” when you have bills and plenty of other things to pay for today. However, if your employer offers a retirement plan, and especially if it offers to match your contributions, that’s one of the easiest and most beneficial ways to grow your money. If your employer doesn’t offer a retirement plan or you’re self-employed, then you may want to consider setting up another plan that provides many of the same benefits.
If you choose an investment account beyond your employer’s retirement plan, then you may want to set up automatic deposits on a regular basis (monthly, quarterly, etc.). That way, your investments will feel like other bills you always pay, and you won’t have to make a decision each time you think about investing (or not investing). This is the first step in the right direction to investing in land in your 20s.
2. As you earn more, invest more
While setting and forgetting your investments is a great strategy, for the most part, you also want to review your investment strategies periodically and make sure they’re keeping up with your income. Whenever you get a raise, a promotion, or another income increase, consider upping your investment contributions to match your new paycheck.
The more you can invest, the better, largely because of the considerable power of compound interest. In the simplest terms, compound interest means you earn interest on your interest instead of cashing it out.
Whether Albert Einstein called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world is up for the debate, but no one can deny the fact that the more you take advantage of compound interest through your investments, the better off you will be down the road. And the younger you are when you start, the more time you have to realize the fullest advantages of compound interest.
3. Ask For Help
As you earn more and your options for investing in varying landed properties increases, you may want to seek the assistance of experts in the real estate field. Beyond investment planning, they can help you with other financial issues as well, including the best locations and all.
While you certainly can tackle the research and do the legwork yourself, there’s a point at which it may extend beyond your level of knowledge and take more time and energy than you want to expend. Expert real estate investors also offer a wealth of experience, having walked through the same steps you’re walking through for the first time, and they can provide valuable insight based on the mistakes and moves others have made.
4. Invest in a real estate-focused company
There are many companies that own and manage real estate. Companies that are real estate-focused can include hotels, resort operators, timeshare companies, and commercial real estate developers, for example. Make sure to conduct due diligence before you buy from such companies. Be sure to research historical data, company history, and other details.
5 Invest in real estate online
Last but not least, don’t forget about all the new companies that have cropped up to help investors get involved in real estate without getting their hands dirty. Websites like Clip lets you invest in commercial or residential real estate investments and receive cash flow distributions in return.
Investing with either company is similar to investing in REITs in that your money is pooled with cash from other investors who take advantage of the platform. The cash you invest may be used to purchase residential property, commercial real estate, apartment buildings, and more. Ultimately, you get the benefit of dividends and distributions and long-term appreciation of the properties you “own.”
While there are many ways to start investing in your twenties, how you invest isn’t nearly as important as the fact that you get started. This decade is one of the best times to make investing a habit to help you achieve your financial goals now and for decades to come.
