Some of you are probably thinking that you are parents and that isn’t that enough of a contribution to make to the next generation? Being a parent is one of the most obvious and perhaps best ways to invest in children, but it is not the only way. All adults, parents or not, have the ability and the responsibility to make life better for children and young people. I believe we have this incredible job to do, that we have the task of spending our lives on things that make life better for others.

Taking time to invest in others requires just that: time. You cannot get very far in any relationship without putting time into it. If you are parent, take the time to parent well. Take time to get into the lives and hearts and minds of your kids. Learn about the things they care about, listen to the things they are scared of or excited about. Take your kids to their favorite park or read a great book with them before bed each night. Time is one of the best ways you can invest into children. If you are not a parent, find ways to interact with children. Offer to take the kids of your friends or neighbors for an evening. Take time to play games, go for walks, eat dessert or read books with kids. Invest yourself into the future of our country.

Learning to invest in young people requires that you offer yourself. By offering yourself I mean you allow children to learn from your life. Share stories from your past, lessons you’ve learned, and things you’ve failed at. Young people love to learn how adults have done life. Invest into them by being open and honest about the way you’ve lived, the decisions you’ve made and the things you would do differently if you could start again. You might be amazed at how much kids respond to adults that are offering themselves.

Few things are as valuable as taking time and energy to invest into children and young people. Think about ways that you could share what you’ve learned about life with others.

One of the biggest problems with HYIP’s is that they can represent a lot of money placed at risk for a high potential gain. Although they can involve small amounts of money, most investors will invest as much as they figure that they can risk, in order to take advantage of the high potential return. Read: Although they don’t require the huge start-up that other investments do, people do spend as much as they can afford. (Some put in more than they can afford, but this is never recommended.)

Also, some HYIP’s are just well disguised ponzi schemes, and are thus highly illegal. (Investigate any investment opportunity, with special care as to the background of the group or person presenting it. Normally, “too good to be true” would be good advice, but that doesn’t always prove true when it comes to investing.) Some HYIP’s are in fact defined as “ponzi games” in order to skirt legislation that prohibits ponzi schemes as well as uninsured investments; bear that in mind when investigating any HYIP.

However, the problem is that not all investments pay off. With HYIP’s, that’s actually the nature of the investment; although they all promise high gain, the problem is that high risk does mean a strong chance of losing any funds involved. Thus, any potential investor is advised to not invest any more than he can afford to lose.

When debating the effectiveness of a HYIP, be advised that that the nature of the investment itself makes gauging that difficult, and that only the investor himself can make that decision. What makes them effective is that they can create a nice profit for the price entailed, but the risk involved makes arguably effective. There is no real way to cushion the investment, as there would be for most investments; again, the nature of the HYIP denies that.

However, HYIP’s can be effective if the investor limits his activity to just one or two HYIP’s at a time, and invests conservatively otherwise for the time that he is involved in the HYIP’s. That way, the investor has the other investments to fall back on in case the HYIP falls through. This strategy makes the investment more effective, and decreases the risks involved, making them more attractive, and more effective.

HYIP’s can thus be very effective investments, especially if the person can afford to lose any funds invested. If the investor is investing assuming that they will get the money back, and with a high yield, and doesn’t allow for the possibility of loss, however, a HYIP can be a potential issue. Investing in general isn’t for the weak; that definitely applies to HYIP’s.