This is a guest post from Kayla on behalf of ListenMoneyMatters.com. Kayla is a personal finance blogger in her mid-20s who loves to write about money topics of all kinds. Let me know if you would like to guest post on MMYW!

If you’ve already read anything about personal finance, then you’ve probably read or figured out that there are two ways to make money. One way is to make money today by working and earning a paycheck no matter if that is by means of traditional employment or running your own business. But the other way to make money is by having your assets work for you by investing. Those words are true, but let’s take it a bit further. Let’s talk about why you should invest to make money for the future.

1 Retirement

It’s my guess that retirement is probably the number one reason people invest today. I’m sure you’ve met people before who have worked hard all of their life and ended up with so very little as the years have passed.

Just a few short decades ago, hard work was believed to be the way to achieve success and have the ability to eventually enjoy retirement. But over the years, the erosion of the social security system as well as other economic factors, like the transition from pension plans to investment plans, have changed things.  You can no longer count on your social security benefits being enough to meet your needs once you reach retirement age, if they are even available at all. So, how do you fix that so you can be sure you have money to live off of during retirement? Investing.

2 Education

Making sure money is there when your children and grandchildren are ready for college is another great reason to invest.

I had several scholarships when I went to college, and my parents helped me financially as well. But in order to afford college tuition and living expenses, I also worked while I was in college.

I was lucky that I only had to take out student loans for my last year of to complete my degree. But others I know were not so lucky. They ended up with $20,000, $30,000 or more in student loans. So, my advice is to start investing when you are young so that the money is there for your children and grandchildren when they need it for their college expenses. I’m sure they will be grateful as the cost of a college education is sure to rise.

3 Recreation

What do you dream of doing in the future? Do you want to work and work but never enjoy any leisure time? For most of us the answer to that last question is a resounding “No!” Then why are you working so hard on your own and not saving or investing for the future?

Treat your money as though it were an extra person or two. Use it to work for you and make more money so you don’t have to do it all yourself. When you are ready to take that dream vacation, or go deep sea fishing, or whatever you want to do for fun, you will have the extra money set aside so you can go do those things. The key is to start investing now so you can rest assured knowing you will be able to use that money when the time comes around.

Why should you invest to make money for the future? Even if you don’t have dreams of travel or other fun recreational activities later in life, investing for your future makes sense. Simply put, you can make money, or you can work smarter instead of harder and allow your money and assets to make more money for you. It’s all up to you.

Can you think of other reasons why you should invest to make money for the future?