If you’re wondering whether to invest or save, don’t worry – you’re not the only one!

Obviously the answer depends on your goals and your financial situation, but in short, when you save money in cash, you’re putting it away for when you need it most, or for something particular. Investing is all about trying to make your money grow over a longer period of time.  

Here are are some ideas to help you work out how to build on your savings and the best way to invest your money.

SAVING

This is simply putting money aside for a rainy day, a holiday, a new car or a deposit on a house. This can be done by having a savings account in a bank or building society.

Check out the best savings account rates at Deposit Accounts.

An emergency fund.

Having financial security when we need it helps us sleep at night. The idea of an emergency fund is to have roughly three months’ worth of living expenses to cover everything from food to rent saved up in a savings account, as you never know when you may need it.

Keep on saving.

Sometimes it’s easier said than done, but it’s advisable to save at least 10% of what you earn each month. For short-term goals it’s worth putting money into cash deposits, like bank accounts – think of some goals you’re working towards as it’s easier to save when you know it’s going towards something you really want.

You can calculate how much you could potentially save over time here.

INVEST

In simple terms, this is taking some of your money and trying to make it grow to the best it can. This could be by buying things that could potentially increase in value, like stocks, shares in a fund or property.

Invest in your own business.

We all think of the obvious things to invest in, like housing or stocks and shares, however many people choose to invest in their own business. It’s never too late to start up your own little side business, so take a look and see why this could work for you.

Invest in small companies.

Small but growing companies often turn out to be good choices for investment. Somewhere like Kucoin is a profit sharing exchange – you can recieve a small percentage of the trading fees by owning Kucoin Shares. If you think this is something for you, you can get your free Kucoin invitation code here.

The risk factor.

Obviously investing can be risky and that’s what puts a lot of people off. It’s always advisable to invest slowly to start with and then pick it up once you feel more comfortable.

Looking long-term?

For longer-term goals, it might be worth thinking about investing as inflation can affect the value of cash savings. The stock market does better than cash over the long-term, providing a greater return on money.