There is a famous saying in the financial circle, "If you don't manage your money, money won't manage you." However, when it comes to ourselves, it often becomes "As soon as you start managing your money, it starts to leave you." So, how can we manage and invest our money now to maximize the potential for returns?

Here are a few common methods we often see:

1. Depositing money in banks to earn interest. Whether it's a large bank certificate of deposit or a money market fund in Alipay and WeChat, the annualized return rate is now hard to exceed 4%. What's more terrifying is that it is foreseeable that the return rate will be lower in the future. Putting money in banks, Alipay, or WeChat is just slowing down the devaluation rate of money, and it will not fundamentally change the situation of continuous devaluation of money. For example, 100 yuan depreciates to only 67 yuan after 10 years at an annualized interest rate of 4%, only 45 yuan after 20 years, and only 30 yuan after 30 years. Moreover, in the event of a bank bankruptcy, the state can only guarantee up to 500,000 yuan. Although the probability of a bank bankruptcy in our country is very low, especially the four major banks, there is still a certain risk.

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2. Purchasing government bonds. Government bonds are known as gilt-edged bonds, with the national credit as a guarantee, zero risk, and interest tax exemption. Low risk also means low returns. The 5-year government bond is about 3.5%. The result is not much different from the interest earned in the bank, and this also cannot change the result of wealth devaluation.

3. Purchasing funds. To put it nicely, it is to hire professionals to help manage their own finances and maximize the investment return rate. In recent years, the performance of fund investments has not been very good, with many losing 15% or even more. I am an example of this. In fact, fund companies charge management fees and handling fees. Even if the investment loses money, the management fees and handling fees are still collected, and they will not deduct money to offset our losses. They are guaranteed to make a profit without loss, and we bear the risk ourselves. Who would want to do such a foolish thing?

4. Purchasing stocks. Over a long period, looking at the establishment of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, most stocks indeed have a higher annualized return rate than other investment channels, even surpassing real estate. If you can step on the market trend, your wealth will soar rapidly, and it looks very pleasing. However, the risk of stocks is huge, and for us ordinary people, it is more like a trap. Some people say that we should learn to invest in value and avoid risks. However, how many people can do this? There are now thousands of companies in the A-share market, how do I know if this is a good company, whether it has investment value, and what if the stock in hand becomes ST? In fact, most people in the stock market are losing money. It is said that 70% lose, 20% break even, and only 10% make money. In the short term, this is a zero-sum game, and the money one person earns is the money another person loses.

5. Purchasing insurance. Regarding insurance companies, the first thing you need to know is that those products that look very attractive are designed by some extremely smart actuaries of the insurance companies. Do you think they will design a product that gives you money, or a product that earns your money? Another thing is that insurance companies have three sources of profit: death difference, interest difference, and fee difference. The biggest profit of insurance companies is not the death difference, let alone the fee difference, but the interest difference! The bulk of the insurance company's profits comes from the time it occupies your funds, not the amount! If you buy a dividend insurance that matures and returns the principal in 20 years, then you are essentially lending money to the insurance company at a very low interest rate. How low can this interest rate be? After a series of operations by those extremely smart actuaries, the actual interest rate is far lower than the bank interest rate. In other words, you might as well deposit money in a bank term deposit!

6. Investing in real estate. The past 20 years have been the golden age of China's real estate, but the trend of housing prices depends on credit policy in the short term, land auction prices in the medium term, and population growth in the long term. The growth rate of our country's population is continuously declining, and under the background of "housing is for living in, not for speculation," housing prices no longer have the driving force for continuous growth and cannot replicate the continuous rise of the past 20 years.

So, what is the biggest and best investment now? I think it is the health of oneself and family members, as well as knowledge.

1. Investing in health. Physical health is a person's greatest wealth. Some people seem to have made a lot of money, but what's the use if health is gone? Without health, everything is empty. Perhaps when we are young, we still have the capital to work hard, but when we reach a certain age, we will not be able to bear it. When you find that there is a problem with your health, you should deal with it as soon as possible, otherwise, it will be too late to regret when a big problem occurs. Take good care of your own and your family's health, maintain a good routine, and strengthen exercise, so that your body will be in a good condition.II. Enriching Oneself. As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Only with power can we face all the adversities in life.

On the journey of life, if you want to go further and achieve more happiness, you must invest in yourself and your family's health, and invest in your own intellect.