Investment – From where?

Hi everybody!

Investing is something we've all heard at least a few times in our lives. And investing according to "Teach your children to be rich" is also the final 4th part of the Golden Quadrant of the financial destination that everyone wants.

That means letting money work for you, no longer having to trade health and time for money. Especially during epidemic times like the past few years, people can see all kinds of investment and financial channels taking turns feverishly such as real estate, gold, forex, crypto, stocks,...

But one thing is that most of us start entering the market the wrong way, leading to many losses, even nothing. 

Instead of money giving birth to money, it is infertile and also knows how to cheat on you, so it leaves and never comes back.

Of course, in the market there must be people who lose in order for people to profit. I just hope that this article will help anyone reading the article, especially newbies, avoid mistakes. At least when we don't make a profit, we won't lose our accumulated assets or put ourselves in difficult situations.

Everyone should also note that I am sharing based on my own experience, so the content of the article is only talking about personal financial investment. As for bigger investments, they are beyond my understanding.

Where does the money to invest come from?

In essence, investing is for us to use our idle money to make a profit when we don't need to work. Or there are some investment books that say you can make money while you sleep (of course, this is just a figurative saying).

But the paradox is that most of us enter this market when we have financial difficulties, or when our income from our main job is affected. And this is part of the reason why we suffer losses in the market.

Because when entering the market with this mindset, you will be under pressure both psychologically, financially and in time, so you will always be at a disadvantage in the market.

Let me give you an example so you can understand better. For example, if you invest 1000$ in the Crypto market, this amount will be borrowed from you, or put all the capital you currently have. You cannot leave this money in the market for too long because you still have to repay debt (both with interest or interest), or you need this money to maintain your life.

And so you decide to invest all in Bitcoin in the hope that it will increase to make money. Maybe it's true that it really increased, after buying it, your profit increased to 1200$.

But lo and behold, Bitcoin continues to rise. I could have withdrawn the capital of 1000$ to pay off debt or to ensure my life. But you decide to go all-in on this 1200$ because you think there aren't many opportunities. Can't miss this life-changing opportunity.

After buying, Bitcoin fell miserably, 1000$, then 600$. The money is due and needs to be taken out. You still hold out hope that it will increase again so you can withdraw to avoid losses.

But 1 month, 2 months, half a year, I can't stand it anymore. The fact that it is not idle money makes you unable to leave it there for too long, you have to sell it all when your account still has 300$ to have money to cover your living expenses, to pay off loans, etc.

And you also want to sell to end the pain and fear of constantly having to check in to see the price fluctuate every day, not being able to concentrate your mind to do your current job.

Even though we know that in the future it will increase again and it is true that it will increase again. Profit is nowhere to be seen and you have lost 700$ compared to your initial capital.

In the opposite direction, there are people who also invest in Bitcoin at the price when you bought it, but they still leave it there without selling, and continue to buy the Bitcoin you sold when your account has 300$ left to average your capital. They can leave it there for 1 year, or 2 years, and only then will they sell it when the profit is enough.

Idle money also makes them not have much psychological pressure when prices fluctuate, leave it there and do other jobs, continue to earn money & enjoy life.

That is the harshness in investing, which is why people often say that the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.

I don't say these things for negative purposes, that if you don't have money, don't invest, accept life as it is, etc. But so that you can realize this early and have appropriate plans for it. myself with the suggestions I have for you. That is:

• Do not borrow money to invest.
• Don't believe in the image of beautiful houses, luxury cars, changing your life overnight. You are only making yourself a match for scammers. That's why the Ponzi model always has a place even though it has been around since 1920.

• Limit debt, whether it's credit card debt, consumer debt, installment debt, etc. Practice a habit of controlling your finances and spending. If you don't have enough money, don't buy it. Especially when buying in installments or consuming. Because when you put yourself into debt, you always tie yourself to debt support and interest payments, and this interest is not small at all. You will also not dare to change jobs, not dare to look for new opportunities, ...

So where does investment money come from?

In my opinion, what you need to do at the present time is to create savings by trying to generate higher income in your current job, and in the opposite direction, reduce spending money. You can learn a minimalist lifestyle to reduce your dependence on material things, and not get addicted to shopping.

Please try to escape the Rat Race!

Rat Race can be compared to a rat running in a wheel with a piece of cheese hanging in front of it. He ran and ran but couldn't reach the cheese and was exhausted.

Or the trick that you probably did when you were little is tying a beer can to a mouse and dropping it on a bridge. It will run, the more it runs, the more it will hear the sound of beer cans as if someone is chasing it behind, the more it tries to run, until it is exhausted.

If you don't have enough money to buy a good phone or car, use a normal phone or ride a motorbike. If you can't afford a 3-bedroom apartment, just buy a 2-bedroom apartment. Think carefully about whether you and your family really need that much.

You can think and see that a beer can is very similar to what banks and credit institutions are creating for us. Borrowing to buy now and pay later is getting easier and easier, more and more no-interest and stimulus traps are being set up, and we tie not just one but many of these cans around our necks and run until we are exhausted. .

What if you don't have a car or a good phone? If you don't have the money to buy a house right away, is it okay to stay in a temporary rental house for a while?

Do you really need it that much or just because you see other people have it, see people showing it off on social networks, do you think you need to be like that?

Just save 20,000 VND per day by quitting smoking or making your own coffee instead of buying it. Every month you have an extra 600,000 VND to invest for the future and it's also good for your health. That's just a very small example, but if you have the habit of buying more clothes and items than what you need, you can already spend a large amount of money on investment.

There are many shared spending principles such as 50/20/30, or Ly Gia Thanh's 5 jar principle,... you can give yourself any method or customize it the way you see fit.

Personally, I don't really agree with these types of principles because applying the standards is quite rigid and takes a lot of time, so I usually can't maintain them for long. I simply follow a minimalist life, spend reasonably and invest money flexibly depending on the time.

Determine that you spend a few years accumulating and in the remaining years while others are still living in the Rat Race, you will become a free, comfortable mouse without a can tied around your neck. Already.

I write these as just my personal views, and have no intention of criticizing other people's views on life. But only for those who need it but don't know how to start from scratch. If you have tied a few cans, it's okay, gradually untie them one by one.

Where to start investing?

However, having a lot of money to invest is not necessarily an advantage if you enter the market without knowledge. Especially for those who have had certain success in their fields.

With great mentality and ego, they enter the market with their assets without studying, understanding, and accepting that they are new in the market. Especially with markets that use leverage, CFDs,...

There are many markets for you to invest in such as: Stocks, Crypto, Gold, Real Estate, Forex,... Everyone can learn and choose the field that suits them. I choose Forex and Crypto because I like new things, fast liquidity 24/7 and like reading and learning about technology and the foundation of coins rather than reading a company's financial statements.

Each market will have different characteristics and risks. And there will also be ways called investment, speculation, or trading, etc. Here I will call it investment for simplicity. Anyway, it's just a way to avoid anyone wondering and arguing about which is investment and which is speculation, wasting time.

However, there is one investment that I can confirm that you will always be profitable and that is investing in yourself (I mean investing in knowledge, not clothes or cosmetics ^^!)

If you can find a trustworthy mentor, that's good, but it's better to have someone to guide you to avoid mistakes. But you have to choose correctly, don't choose the wrong multi-level teachers, Ponzi, candle blowing or Tiktok stars. There is no better way to save your money and time (sometimes even your hair because too much stress causes hair loss) than these teachers.

If you don't have it, it's okay, you can self-study, find knowledge, and learn through mistakes like you did before. However, don't let yourself make big mistakes like going all-in. For example, one is to have a Merchandise today, two is to run for the rest of your life because there are always people chasing after you to collect your debt.

Always give yourself a chance to do it again! Investing means you have to have money before you can continue.

Initially, your goal should be knowledge and experience instead of money. Focus on an area that you find most interesting first. Just put in a small amount of capital to start getting interested in learning and gradually learn to master your own emotions first.

Self-study is also easier now because there are many more documents and videos shared on YouTube than before when I first started, but you also need to be selective about the information you receive in an increasingly saturated Internet world. so many.

Spend a little less time playing games, a little less time surfing social networks, a little less time watching the news and participating in endless gossip and scandals online to spend time studying and learning. Avoid negative things and have a better financial future.

I think learning and studying regularly day after day is better than starting out enthusiastically but then forgetting about it after a few days.

Set a goal for yourself to be financially free in the next 5-10 years instead of setting yourself an absolute milestone. Because absolute milestones often have no stopping point, with 1 million $ people want 2 million $, 2 million $ want 5 million... and in addition to how much money you earn, how much you spend is equally important.

Actually, I have all made these mistakes. Although I have never bought in installments or taken out a consumer loan because I have always thought that when I buy something I have enough money to buy it, otherwise I don't. But I have also borrowed for business or investment. Also used to be greedy and lose money in participating markets due to lack of knowledge and wanting to get rich quickly.

There's a lot more I want to say, but this article is already quite long. See you all in the following articles. If possible, please leave a comment on the topic you are interested in so I can answer within the scope of my knowledge!