While some teachers love to stay in the comfort zone and do extremely no prediction of the future, some do the exact opposite and exercise their entrepreneurial spirit through saving and investment. One of the most popular ideas is creating investment clubs with colleagues which involves;
- A group of members with titles and roles
- Constitution and rules
- Goals and visions
- A specific amount of money to be set
- Bank account where the money will be kept
- A committee of members that oversee activities
With great organization and dedication, an investment club can start small and with time, yield the following benefits;
1. Pooled funds bring higher returns in the long run
Most people are afraid to start small, but the money collected among club members yields higher returns on investments after a fair amount of time.
When the club gains these returns on investment, it benefits every member of the investment club, be it in profit sharing or in the reinvestment that increases their stake in the company/ club.
2. Financial education/ literacy
As we were growing up, we were always told that experience is the best teacher. This is the perfect example of that statement.
Before you get into a situation that requires you to make hard decisions, you never actually learn how to make good decisions. Same applies to the attainment of credible and applicable financial knowledge. An investment club teaches you through;
- Putting you in the position to discuss, suggest and try out different ideas
- Surrounding you with colleagues/ friends that have or suggest better ideas for the best of the club.
- Learning and discussing how to make and keep money among the group members
- Discussing the financial implications of all decisions and correcting the already made errors
Adequate financial literacy puts you in the position to plan and make decisions in your personal business ventures and other aspects of life.
3. Teaches team work and collaboration
Regardless of your personality, level of education or IQ Level, you need people at some point to get things done, get a point across or accomplish a task. However, some of us are raised with this weird sense of individualism.
Team work, however, is very essential because;
- You get things done faster and better with a team
- Teams promote the generation and exchange of good ideas
- A good team motivates the members
- Good decisions are made with a team
While some people are not team players, this can change when you’re part of an investment club, because you can do almost nothing alone here.
4. Goal setting
To gather colleagues and put them in a position where they have to sacrifice their money on a regular basis, there has to be a pretty solid objective in sight.
In an investment club, you’ll have both short term and long term goals, and everyone will be inclined to achieve these goals. Here’s why they are important;
- Goals instil a sense of purpose in individuals and companies
- It’s one of the few ways to track your progress
- Gives you the direction you need
- Promotes self-awareness through analysis of your habits in effort to achieve these goals
When each group member learns to set and go after their goals, that simple trait can turn them into the most responsible people out there.
5. It is an incentive to hard work
Similar to setting goals, being part of an investment club encourages you to work hard. Here’s how;
- Improves your focus on work, since you have saving goals
- You start to think and live outside the box of your daily 9-5
- Enables you develop thick skin, meaning you can endure different kinds of hardships
Adding hard work onto your modus operandi gets you a long way away from the bottom and has immense benefits, both at work and outside of it.
6. Boosts your net worth
The investment club will come to increase the number of things it owns, including assets, businesses and other items.
If every member has a reasonable stake in the company, this means everyone becomes richer as the company grows richer.
6. Helps properly strategize for retirement
Social security is not enough for retirement, as a retired worker would need more than that to survive, let alone thrive, especially when they have pending family needs.
Once you have given up on the hustle and bustle that’s involved in work, you need a reasonable amount of wealth that will sustain you as you do your bidding.
7. Promotes an entrepreneurial mindset
While with your fellow in this club, you will find your brain falling in love with weird things like;
- Saving and investment
- Taking risks
- Planning
- Setting goals
- Analysis and accountability
All those qualities above are typical of entrepreneurs, and developing them means you’re now looking at the world in the entrepreneur’s perspective.
8. Provides employment to members
While members of an investment club probably have jobs from which they get the money to fund their membership, working on their own investments that they believe will help their off-springs is something they would all want.
However, this is a choice anyone can make or reject, because it’s not forced upon anyone.
Conclusion;
Yes, there are lots of investment clubs that are not genuine, and they result into the worst of losses. Some are genuine but collapse due to the weight of bad decisions made over time. However, all investment clubs that have a clear and transparent modus operandi stand the test of time.