When we are kids we don't care a lot about money and terms like banks, savings, investment etc. just sound so confusing that we want to stay away from anything that resemble these terms. Saving, investments, fixed deposits, CD etc sound so abstract that we just can't understand them when we are kids. Some of these concepts elude people throughout their lives too. Money saving and investments have been always there in front of us but we don't realize it quite early in our lives and when we realize them it's too late for most of us.

We are asked to save by our parents. As kids we wonder what use the saving is for when I can go out and get my candy right now and savor it today instead of putting that money in a piggy bank and then enjoying the accumulation of wealth in future. Well, it's not that we don't enjoy seeing that we are getting rich by saving but we always find excuses to avoid savings for immediate pleasure. By giving in to our immediate pleasure we become a bit poorer in terms of money in pocket but we say "Life is all about today so we should enjoy it today". Definitely life is all about today but tomorrow isn't too far.

A trip to bank was the most intriguing experience when I was a kid because of the complexity involved with doing anything from depositing checks to withdrawing money, from filling up the forms to getting the cashier's check or demand draft in hand. I am sure most of us would have had similar experiences in childhood and some of them have even in their adulthood. Why do financial things to have to be so scary, abstract and complicated?

As kids we listen to stories of people losing everything they had in stock market but we don't hear people sharing stories of the Oracle of Omaha - Warren Buffet. Don't be surprised if you hear someone saying "Who is Warren Buffet?". We are taught to be risk averse in life rather than calculating it and then taking as much risk as we can take. We are told that investing in stock market is nothing but gambling. Definitely it is a gambling if you put your money in a stock just because your brother-in-law or your close friend advised you to do so. In reality investment is far from gambling because when you invest you study where you are putting your money and you expect a pre calculated return on that money and your investment guarantees that return. Nothing is guaranteed in the stock market but in a long run overall stock market has definitely returned around 8% on average.

Aversion from money matter that starts from our childhood lingers even when we are adults. We don't take control of our finances. We keep piling on debts and starts living off our credit cards. Doing this only bring misery and psychological problems of being poor. Debts sucks us in bringing tons of issues with it.

What can we do? We can save money for future by investing properly. Saving and investment have become such an indispensable part of our lives that we need to master this art to live a peaceful and satisfying life. Definitely money can't buy you happiness but money helps you being happy by providing you the peace of mind.

One thing I would tell everybody is that please don't be scared of money matter. Don't procrastinate and delay your money matters for tomorrow. Take action now. Investment is not a rocket science. You don't need those people in suits with advanced degree to help you reach your financial goals. With a little guidance you can be your own boss as far as the financial matters are concerned. If number frightens you don't worry as there are calculators do to your work.

You just need to know that saving money is very important part of life and the saving is useful only when it is invested properly. Putting money under your mattress is saving but due to inflation (rising cost of goods) you lose money as time passes. You can't buy Starbucks latte in $2.50 five years down the line because of inflation. When you invest your saving you beat the inflation. How? Becuase by investing properly you gain more than what inflation would take away.

Most of the banks' saving accounts give only 1-2% interest rate. That's not investment. Inflation has been around 2-3% annually in US and Fed is fighting hard to keep it to that level. It's only through investment in other financial instruments like stocks, bonds and CDs (Certificates of Deposit) that you can beat the inflation and amass wealth in long run.

Break the shield of risk averseness that you are trapped inside and start saving and investing your money for a better future and peace of mind.