Investment is putting your money into an asset that can grow in value or produce income or both. For example, you can buy equity stock of a listed company in the hopes of receiving regular dividends and capital appreciation in the form of the share price.
Your savings become investments when they are put into assets that carry investment risk or a degree of illiquidity. Such investments help you create wealth that can be used as an emergency fund, a retirement corpus, for buying a house or funding a child’s education, etc. The allocation of money, resources, or time into an asset, venture, project, or business with the expectation of generating a return or profit in the future. It involves setting aside funds in the present to obtain benefits or returns that are expected to exceed the original investment amount.