Investing and Saving go hand in hand though they are not the same thing. Saving is very important as it leads to capital formation i.e. it creates a stock of money that is available to finance long term business growth as well as other projects such as infrastructure development. Investment on the other hand leads to capital growth and when done well will result in your wealth growing i.e. investing is making your money work for you. To underscore the difference between saving and investing, let me use the Biblical story of the Talents. Since I am not going to repeat the parable here, those who may want to read the parable can follow the link below:
So the first and second servants who had received 5 and 2 talents respectively had put their talents to work and managed to double the value entrusted to them by their Master - THAT'S INVESTMENT. The third servant had simply hidden his talent and it had not grown; he presented it to his master upon his return. The third servant had simply SAVED! The first and second servants were rewarded by their master while the third servant got punished. If you invest wisely, you get more! If you save, you maintain value in nominal terms but due to other things like inflation and 'opportunity cost' you may actually end up losing. Below is a long piece on some of the things you need to know as an aspiring investor...happy reading!
