Busting 3 BIG Investing Myths
A chapter from The 1-Hour Investor, a new e-book + course I'm launching soon.
Hello, this is a chapter from my upcoming book and course: The 1-Hour Investor.
Enjoy!
There will always be excuses to avoid starting something new and scary like investing.
A lot of those excuses end up being lies we tell ourselves.
Once you get past the lies, you can start putting your money to work, because the amount of time your money spends growing in the market is your most important tool as a long-term investor.
Here are the 3 biggest investing myths holding you back.
Myth #1: You need a lot of money to get started.
In movies about Wall Street, investing is made out to be a millionaire’s game. But it’s investing that makes you rich.
And the earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow and compound in your investment account. This is what drives 80-90% of investing success, so you can’t afford to wait!
Whether you are starting with $1 or $100 or $10,000 — start investing today so you can have a lot more 20 years from now.
Micro investing apps, robo advisors, or small weekly auto-transfers into a brokerage account allow you to invest small amounts.
Myth # 2: You need to be an expert to invest.
False.
Investing is easier than you might think using the strategies and frameworks taught in this course.
Less complexity can be an advantage for long-term investors.
Despite what the headlines want you to think, the process of investing should look boring and systematic.
"Investing should be more like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. If you want excitement, take $800 and go to Las Vegas."— Paul Samuelson
It’s the result of your boring strategy that’s the sexy part: more money in your pocket.
Myth #3: You should constantly watch the stock market for the best times to invest.
False, unless you’re looking for a way to stress yourself out and turn investing into a trading frenzy.
The financial media wants you to keep coming back for clicks because they love their ad revenue. That’s how they make money.
Fear sells.
It also makes you sell your investments, a common mistake when you invest with emotion.
Instead, it’s better to ignore the clickbait and invest consistently on a weekly schedule.
Dollar-cost averaging helps smooth out the ups and downs of the stock market over time by investing a set amount on a fixed schedule (e.g., $100 every two weeks)
TL;DR
You don’t need hundreds or thousands of dollars to start investing.
You don’t need to be an expert or stock-picking wizard to start investing.
You don’t need to be glued to CNBC watching the market to start investing.
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