I’m not going to go into the nitty-gritty of the volatility of the current stock market. However, I would like to share with you my thoughts on building, rebuilding, or recreating an investment portfolio in 2025, in the midst of the many unknowns.
The list below indicates my research and thoughts on that subject. The list contrasts with what is traditionally understood as an investment portfolio. But the change of perspective regarding investments is needed, so here is my small contribution towards that conversation:
– Build a variety of flexible enough skills to be able to move jobs easily and possibly countries for jobs that require skills you have.
– Invest in your own business, side-hustle or in my case, my creative art practice. Buying new equipment or subscription services, such as music or Grammarly access, is all business-related investments and should be treated as such.
– Paying off your debts as soon as you can. I don’t mean your mortgage, but if you can pay that off quicker, that’s great. Focus on consumer debts or student loans if you have one. I feel that tackling student loan debts is really important at the moment, as governments across the world are looking for ways to bolster their budgets, and changing the repayment system might be on the agenda.
– If you or your child is thinking of going to university, look at places/countries where you don’t need to pay for Higher Education, or you pay a fraction of what you would have to pay in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand. Many European universities offer courses in English.
– Focus on learning practical skills, which my grandmother felt were essential but have been forgotten in the past 30 years.
– If you don’t have a side business or a creative art practice, could you invest in someone else’s business? I don’t mean only financial investment; perhaps you could give up your time to help them grow their business in exchange for future profit shares or products, or offer your expertise in exchange for products or future profits.
– What practical skills do you have that could double up as future or possible job opportunities, or skills swapping with your friends or neighbours? (Gardening, do you grow your own food or flowers? Can you do babysitting, design a website or a logo? Can you fix your own clothes? Can you use tools?)
– How self-sustaining are you? If something were to happen (and many people predict the collapse of late-stage capitalism), how would you survive? Do you have a community of people you could turn to? Is the place you live in prepared for power cuts or extended periods of drought? If not, how can you make your household and local community more self-sufficient?
– Do you have a mortgage or are you renting? If you have a mortgage, how far are you from paying it off? Could you pay your mortgage off sooner, or possibly invest in self-sufficient, long-term, sustainable improvements around your property? If you are still renting, could you consider buying a tiny house or a property together with a friend or family member? What other outside-the-box housing solutions could you come up with? How could you make your housing situation more secure?
– If you have space in your house/flat, are you able to rent that space to someone else or create an art studio for yourself? Renting out space to someone else generates housing for another person and income for you.
– Invest in good quality appliances (that task requires research, as a lot has changed in the past 5 years), clothing and everyday items that won’t need replacement in the next year or two.
If you would like to learn more about ways to live another way, I suggest you check out the following posts:
PS. I’m made by Made by Dyslexia, so expect small typos and big thinking.
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