When you leave home punctually from Monday to Friday, take the crowded subway to the busy office, day after day, what you anticipate is the salary your boss pays you each month. Regardless of your skills or how much energy and enthusiasm you invest, the final salary you receive is generally in line with your expectation – not significantly more, nor noticeably less.
With the salary your boss provides, you might treat friends to a special seafood meal when a restaurant has a promotion. On weekends, shedding your stiff work attire for a comfortable T-shirt, you might visit a street bar for a drink and offer polite applause to a singer you enjoy.
However, you are very disciplined with your spending. Unlike friends who might first focus on paying off their maxed-out credit cards upon receiving their salary, you are always thrifty, carefully managing daily expenses, hoping to save a portion each month and build up some savings for the future.
You didn’t take out loans for a car or a house, nor did you plan distant trips for vacations. Day after day, eventually, you accumulate a sum of money. You then begin to contemplate how to make this money generate more. That is when you embark on your first investment.
At this point, the most unsettling feeling isn’t about choosing the most profitable project, but facing a difficult issue: loss. When earning a salary, as long as you meet the required attendance and put in your time and effort, you will receive the corresponding pay, with virtually no risk of financial loss.
However, in today’s financial markets, which are highly dominated by algorithms and computers, personal investing can feel almost equivalent to surviving alone and unarmed in a primeval forest.
So, why not simply entrust your money to a fund management company? A straightforward answer might be: It’s my money, and I want to be in control.
Is there potential for personal investing to succeed?
Warren Buffett is one successful example. From the outset of his investment career, he has consistently held stocks for the long term. He firmly believed in his choices and never stopped seeking opportunities in the financial markets.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, presents a stark contrast. He is consistently aggressive, his style is bold, he dares to challenge authority, and firmly believes that failure is a necessary step on the path to success.
Both of them survived and thrived in the challenging financial markets, which suggests that individual investors are not without opportunity.
When you decide to use your hard-earned savings for investment, first and foremost, remember not to rush. Global financial markets operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so there’s no need to hurry your entry. You can start by allocating a small portion of your capital, participate cautiously, continuously learn, and gradually accumulate experience. Continuously adjust your strategy based on your practice and optimize your investment approach.
In the long journey of investment, by continuously learning and optimizing your strategies, you can ultimately find a path that suits you and achieve rewarding results.