Why You Keep Putting Off Investing (and What It Costs You)

You already know you want to invest. You'd just like to read up a bit more first. That's natural: it's your money, you worked hard for it, and you want to stay in control.

The problem is that investing isn't urgent. Nothing breaks if you wait another month, so it feels like there's no problem at all. And you keep putting it off. "I'll start next month." Then an expense comes up, the holidays arrive, you want to read one more thing first. And the years go by.

Important, but not urgent

Our days are full of urgent things: deadlines at work, bills, family matters. They always win, because you see them straight away. Things that are important but have no deadline get pushed to "tomorrow".

Investing is exactly like that. Nobody calls to tell you you're late. The effect of waiting doesn't show today, but in 10 or 20 years.

What holds us back

• "I want to read up more first." Wanting to understand what you're doing is healthy. But research with no end date can go on forever, because there's always something else to read.
• "I'm waiting for the right moment." The market looks too high, or there's talk of a crisis. But nobody knows for sure when the right moment is, not even professionals.
• "When I have more money." It sounds logical, but spending usually grows with income. The moment when you "have enough" keeps moving. At the start, the amount matters less than the habit: putting money aside and investing regularly, even a little.

There's also a well-known mechanism behind it: our brain prefers a reward today over one in the future. Money spent now feels real immediately, while money invested for 20 years from now feels abstract.

What you lose by waiting

Waiting doesn't show on your bank statement. But it has two costs that add up over time.

1. Years of compounding. When you invest, today's gains go on to produce gains of their own, year after year. The later you start, the less time this effect has to work.

A hypothetical example: Tom and Fred each invest €200 a month until age 60. Let's assume an average return of 5% a year.

• Tom starts at 30. He puts in €72,000 in total and ends up with about €167,000.
• Fred started at 40. He put in €48,000 in total and ends up with about €82,500.

Tom puts in only €24,000 more, but ends up with almost double. The ten extra years make the difference.

2. Years in which your money loses value. Money sitting in a current account doesn't stay untouched, even if the balance shows the same number. With inflation at 4% a year, €10,000 will buy in 10 years roughly what €6,750 buys today. A savings account can cover part of the loss, but rarely all of it over the long term. More on this in Afraid to Invest? Here's Why It's Normal.

Both examples are simplified: real returns and inflation change from year to year, and investments can also have years with drops. But the idea holds: time works either for your money or against it.

First steps, at your own pace

1. Take stock of your situation. Set aside an evening or, to begin with, a little time over several days. Write down what debts you have and at what interest rate, what savings you have and where they sit, and whether you have an emergency fund. It's the first step towards real control over your money.
2. Think about your long-term goals. What do you want in 5, 10 or 20 years? A home, financial independence, peace of mind in retirement? The time frame of each goal matters for how you use your money. A useful way to look at them is to see yourself as an asset owner, not just someone who saves.
3. Learn the basics in time you already have. You don't need to set time aside. Lonifi lessons take a few minutes, and you can listen on your commute, during a break or in the evening.
4. Put a limit on your research. Work out what you want to understand before making a choice, so your research has an end. A good starting point is the modules in Stock Market for Beginners: what the stock market is, what a broker is, how investing monthly works. The rest you can learn along the way.
5. Decide for yourself whether it's the right time. With your situation mapped out, clear goals and the basics understood, you can make an informed choice: now, in a few months, or after you've paid off an expensive debt. What matters is that it's a decision, not a postponement. If you choose to start, one habit helps a lot: "pay yourself first". On payday, part of your money goes to investing first, before spending. Many people set up an automatic transfer or an automatic monthly investment with their broker, so it doesn't depend on willpower every month.

In short

It's natural to want control over your money. But because investing isn't urgent, research can easily turn into putting it off, and putting it off has a cost: years of compounding and years in which your money loses value. Take stock, think about your goals, learn the basics, then decide with your eyes open.

On Lonifi you learn the basics in short lessons where Fred explains things to Tom step by step. Start with What is the stock market?.

Lonifi content is educational and is not investment advice. The value of investments can go down as well as up.