Today I started investing in unit trust funds. This is also
the first time I invested such a large sum of money one shot. Should anything
bad happen that’s the end of me. You’ll see me in the newspaper hanging from
the ceiling fan. Ok, I exaggerated. It’s
not that bad, I still have some reserves. But to lose such a big amount of money
(more than half of what I have accumulated so far in my life) is seriously
painful. It’s not that I’ve never invested and lose, just that this time the amount
is like a mountain compared to my previous ones.

However, I did not invest blindly without doing my own
research first. I have surveyed the world market and calculated my own
expenditures before consulting my banker. Some of you may say with so many
disasters and economic problems happening around the world, why the hell do you
still do investment? Here are my reasons:

1)              World market going down – when market goes up, I’ll
earn a lot. Apart from that, with major world events such as EURO and Olympic
coming up, we (the banker and i) are sure the market will gain a boost.

2)             Disasters – I look at the disasters as a minor
setback. Myanmar is one of the major exporters of rice. If the political
situation in Myanmar continues, the price of rice will shoot up like a rocket
within a few months.

3)             Myself – I calculated I have enough to cover for
my expenses for another 2 years. That should be enough to cover my university education
provided I can get a job within a few months after graduation.

4)             Unit trust – Unit trust investment is relatively
low in risk compared to us blindly buying shares in the stock market. I know my
money is in the hands of professionals and experts of this field. Of course
there is no guarantee but at least they will minimize the risks to the minimum.

5)             Saving – Saving in the bank is for the cavemen.
At this age with the inflation and price of commodities rising like mad, the interests
in the bank is not enough to cover the expenses. Most bank offer interests
around 3-4 %, I’ll let you do the maths yourself. The only way to overcome this
problem is to earn more than the inflation rate and the best way to do it is
invest.

I know I’m no expert in this matter. I’m an engineering
student not economic student. But I do know simple logic of life:The value of
money is depreciating. I’ve decided to improve myself in this field for this sem
holiday. Therefore I hope everyone that read this blog will give comments on
this matter. Let us learn and discuss together on how to earn more money.