Unleashing the Financial Power: Investing for Zillennials

Investing as a Zillennial: Unleashing the Financial Power of a Tech-Savvy Generation

I overheard this statement once and I think it’s one of the strangest myths around zillennials (apart from us needing coffee to cope) – the myth is that we think we’re too young to be investing. Now, if that is sounding very familiar and it totally resonates with you, from zillennial to zillennial, you must change your mindset. It takes a very self-aware generation to know what they don’t know.

For those not in the know, Zillennial as defined by Urban dictionary are a “micro-generation of people born on the cusp of the Millennial generation and Gen Z. Zillennials refer to themselves as being "too young for Millennials but too old for Gen Z"

So, what does unleashing financial power of a tech-savvy generation look like? Let’s start off practically - say you earn R10,000 a month. At the end of the month, you’ve got R1,000 left over in your bank account. The money that you should invest isn’t necessarily the entire R1,000; it’s whatever of the R1,000 you can afford to put away and not need ever again. So, let’s say you consistently save R200 every month, it will add up!

Starting your investment while you are young is key to your financial independence. I mean, just have a look at the returns of your favorite company over the long term, it will shock you! Apple, the biggest company in the world, has returned to its shareholders nearly 270% over the last 5 years. It’s not as if one needed to be a portfolio manager to have known that Apple would have grown substantially in the subsequent years-high quality companies on the forefront of ubiquitous themes tend to do well, this isn’t rocket science.

Getting started early with your investments has a couple of obvious benefits; on one hand, you have the advantage of compounding where the earlier you start investing, the better off you are. On the other hand, you have an abundance of knowledge at your fingertips. In fact, I would say that our access to information is unprecedented, really.  From podcasts to TikTok to Sasfin’s Content Hub, there is more than enough help out there to get you on the right track with your investments. The key takeaway here is that one should not be shy to do their own due diligence on a share or other type of financial instrument and then invest accordingly. Ultimately, the habit of investing needs to be fostered now, while we’re young. It is so important, and I cannot overstate that enough.

Another important point that I’d like to raise and be candid about is this: our generation should be conscious of how we look at the market. Sure, they’re volatile, uncertain and we’re all impatient and wanting to be millionaires tomorrow, but we tend to view the market as a vehicle to get rich fast (looking at you, forex traders).

If there is one thing that I hope you take from this article, it's this – don’t look at the market as a vehicle to make you rich, but a vehicle that will assist your financial goals in the long term.  

The amount of money that you’re willing to lose without it negatively impacting your life or changing any part of your lifestyle is the amount of money that you should be saving for the long term. I’d even go as far as to say – buy everything! Assuming one has done one’s own due diligence, that is. If you want to buy Apple, sure, but don’t only buy Apple. Diversify your money, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. For instance, imagine putting all your cash in one place, like a risky cryptocurrency or a single trendy stock. Invest in as many high-quality instruments as you can these include a solid reputation, a history of success, and potential for growth.

That's your key to enter the millionaire's (maybe even billionaire!) club at retirement.

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