a blurb about investments

I should preface this post by stating that I am in no way responsible or for how you choose to invest your money. That said, today I sold my remaining taxable mutual funds, to help pay off my student loans (yay, i’m officially debt free!). Not touching my retirement accounts though. Cashing out now after months of crawling back to close to pre-financial crisis levels is pretty much a no-brainer, considering that student loans these days have a higher interest rate (4.5-7%) than stock returns on average.

My investment philosophy for the most part hasn’t changed much. If I had more dough, I’d still be continuing with my passive investment approach (i.e., buying mostly index mutual funds w/ low fees). However, at this stage in my life, cash is king and I believe there are better types of investments out there. I’ve pretty much accepted the fact that the behavior of the stock market is out of one’s control. I’d rather invest in things that I have more control over. Such as Formal education, furthering one’s skills, or learning a new trade. Ironically, this is coming from someone who was initially skeptical about the value of graduate school just two years earlier. Now two years wiser, I believe that while one’s still young, the best investment one can make is to invest in him or herself (and others too). Go back to school and get an advanced degree/degree or learn new skills to make yourself more competitive out there on the job market. Don’t believe the hogwash about buying a house to make money (it depends on one’s financial situation and opportunity costs) or your prospects of beating the stock market. Go get better and try to help others along the way.