#250: The Best Investment (Friday, October 14)

With all the focus on Wall Street, unemployment, corporate greed and the like, a lot of people don't even want to hear the word "investing," let alone think about putting their money in an investment.

Yet, ironically many people with portfolios or those who are thinking of investing often overlook the most important (and the best) investment: themselves. It sounds like a silly concept, but if you're thinking of putting money into companies hoping for a greater return in the future, why can't you put money into you?

So how do you invest in yourself? Consider these opportunities:

• Are you healthy? You can only be your best if you're healthy--both physically and mentally; this is the most important part of investing in yourself.
• Do you take time for yourself? Many of the best portfolios have active managers who rebalance the portfolio when it departs from its original investment objective. Are you doing the same for yourself and taking time to regroup and re-evaluate your goals?
• Is your resume up to date and ready to go at a moment's notice? Opportunity only knocks once and if you're not ready, it could pass you by.
• Are you willing to spend money to improve yourself, your image and your opportunities? Consider memberships to organizations in your field, or in the field you're trying to get into; learn a new skill or a skill related to what you do.
• Are you monitoring your network and ensuring that it contains a diverse group of people? If your network contains only individuals that are similar to you (race, gender, age, industry, culture, etc.), you're doing yourself a great disservice.
• Are you involved in initiatives that are aligned with your goals?

Happy investing!