The Investment Guru says…

Don’t believe everything you hear, but believe everything you’re about to read.

Myth # 1 - The stock market is a complex maze of confusion that only gets worse with time.

Wrong. The stock market is as predictable as the weather. We know it’s going to be cold in the winter and hot in the summer. We just don’t know how much so. The stock market is exactly the same. Since the great depression, the stock market has averaged a return of over 10% per year. That should be hardly intimidating.

But what about years like this when the market goes down over 20%? Guess what… The market still averages 10%, so a year like this means you’re going to make a killing if you haven’t started investing yet. Remember, buy low sell high. Now is the time to buy, because many stocks are at historic lows.

For starters, all you have to do is invest in something that already invests in a lot of things. An index fund, like an S&P 500 Index fund will get you average results. It’s as easy as calling the company you have an IRA with and they’ll probably do all that hard work for you anyway. It’s really that easy. You put money away, and they tell you where to put it. You’re smart enough to invest. Don’t hesitate.
Myth # 2 - Advisors are con artists.

Hardly. When you make money, your advisor has more money under management, which means a bigger paycheck for them. He or she gets rich while you get rich. The crooked ones are magnified by the media (and are usually selling annuities and insurance, which have higher payouts).

It’s also interesting to hear people go from “I don’t have enough to start” to “It’s too risky.” If you don’t have enough money to start investing, then what do you have to lose? You have to make sure you’re not making excuses.

Nobody gets rich off of excuses.

Let me give you an example to see what a slow start can do for you. Putting away $50 a month for two years starting at age 22 and never touching it again until age 65 gives you over $90,000 at market average of 10%. So stop worrying about it. (How did we calculate this?)

Like Ralph Nader says “Don’t be so cynical about slow starts. If nature were like you, seeds would never have a chance to sprout.”
Get out there, invest whatever the hell you have and don’t look back.

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