Most entrepreneurs frequently use a phrase that goes like this: “If it were easy, everyone would do it”. Besides being true, the same can be applied when it comes to being a day trader or individual investor.
Several months ago, I was sitting at a wine bar and struck up a chat with a young man, about thirty years old. I asked him what he did for a living and he responded “I invest in stocks”. This was pretty surprising, so I decided to strike up a conversation with him over my glass of wine. I asked him many questions like “do you have a regular job? What do you invest in? How do you pick the companies you invest in? What’s your strategy, do you day trade or invest long term?” I was very surprised at his response. No, he didn’t have a day job. He does this for a living. He makes somewhere between $40,000 and $50,000 dollars per year. Surprisingly, he doesn’t day trade or even short term trade, at least not real short term. He will buy a stock and hold it until it reaches a certain threshold. He has developed his own techniques which includes lots and lots of research about sectors, companies within those sectors, economic conditions, and company information and financials. He said he started his first year in college with $1,500 just to try it out. He found out that he really liked it. He finished college and then when he graduated, he thought “I’m making as much money doing this as I would if I got a job. So why not work for myself?”
We all know there are many things you can invest your money in. You can buy a franchise or start a company. You can buy an existing company. Those usually take a lot of money to get started. Maybe you invest in an MLM or start a blog. Both of these still require quite an investment, and lots of work to start making money……more work than most people realize. However, every person can and should be investing their money, whether it’s a 401K, a Roth IRA, retirement, pension, or a portfolio of financial instruments.
So, if you really want to start trading, don’t listen to the naysayers. Naysayers are the ones that never do anything, and discourage others who want to try anything. They will tell you things like “you are just going to gamble your money away” or “the market is rigged-you can’t win” or “the stock market is for rich people—you’re not rich. Don’t listen to them. They probably have the worst portfolio and will retire with little to nothing. I am not saying “go sell your house or take all of your savings and start dabbling in the market.” Instead, start a small savings account and put a little away each month until you have enough to open a broker account. Meanwhile, start learning as much as you can about investing. Then decide which type of investing would suit you best. You will have time to learn what style of investor you are, and develop some systems to mitigate risk. Anytime I want to try to learn something, I just flip the Google switch, search, and then read as much as possible. Videos are great tools too, and there’s a ton of them on investing. There’s always going to be someone selling you something. It’s inevitable in the digital age. But no mistake good content for bad just because there’s a sales pitch at the end. Remember, investing is about creating value. It’s about getting financial momentum.
I think of this young man from time to time, and listen, if he can do it, anyone can do it. He simply had a willingness to learn and study, and he is living a pretty good life at this point. He could have chosen to do nothing and get in the rat race, but he really just wanted to create his own income stream and live by design rather than circumstance. That is an admirable quality, for sure.
Whatever you do, forget the naysayers. Your life is your life. Your money is your money. But most of all, your future is your future.
By C.E. Burnett
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
Robert Kennedy
“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”
Demosthenes