10 lies you tell yourself about investing

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After 6 years in finance and over 3,000 hours worth of conversations on Twitter spaces, I've come across 100s of lies investors tell themselves.

But before I get into the most common lies, a word from our sponsor:

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10 lies you tell yourself about investing:

1. “My house is an investment”

Investment real estate is an investment.

Your primary residence isn’t.

Appreciation isn’t enough to make your house an asset.

Unless you’re going to tap into your equity during retirement, it’s not a real investment.

2. “I don’t make enough money to invest”

You don’t need a lot of money to invest, you just need to start.

You can invest with:

• $1

• $10

• $100

How much you invest doesn’t matter.

What matters is you invest in the first place.

3. “Let me break even, then I’ll sell”

This is costlier than it seems.

You’ll lose money through:

- Bigger losses

- Opportunity cost

Not all stocks recover.

And sometimes you can get a better return elsewhere.

4. “I can start later”

Technically, you can.

But the truth is, you can’t.

It costs $500/month to become a millionaire in 30 years.

But it costs over $2500/month to do it in 15.

The longer you wait, the costlier it gets.

Don’t start later, start now.

5. “Once I have $___ then I'll be happy”

A goalpost that never stops moving is your wealths greatest enemy.

You’ll risk money you have and need for money you don’t have and don’t need.

The hardest investing skill to master isn’t research.

It’s ambition.

6. “Investing is only for the rich”

False.

Investing is how you get rich.

The stock market is the easiest, most accessible, way for people to build wealth.

It doesn’t matter if you start with $1.

You can still build your way to $10 million.

7. “I don’t have time to learn how to invest”

It doesn’t take much time to learn.

A podcast here and a Twitter space there is all it takes.

Nowadays you can learn everything you need to know about investing through your phone.

The accessibility is there.

The commitment isn’t.

8. “Investing is risky”

The truth is…

Not investing is riskier.

When you don’t invest, you:

• Must work until you die

• Have no assets to pass down

• Struggle when you lose your job

But you’ll solve each of those problems if you invest.

9. “I’d rather save than invest”

If you save $500/month it will take you 160 years to get to $1,000,000.

But if you invest $500/month it will only take 30 years.

That’s the power of investing.

And that’s why you can’t save your money forever.

You must invest.

10. “I can beat the market”

Most people can’t.

I’m not saying don’t try, you’re just unlikely to do it.

You can try to beat the market if you love the process.

This is what I do.

But trying to beat the market because you want to get rich quick won’t work.

It rarely does.

What are some lies you've heard about investing?

Reply to this email and let me know! I'd love to hear them.

- Wolf