One of the things I regret the most in life is not investing into the stock market earlier. It has to be said that investing for the first time is probably more stupid than investing when you are an experienced investor (in terms of the decisions you make then), but still, even with some beginner investments, as long as those are long term, you are usually fine in the long run.
Now that I am older an am investing in the stock market, I realise what the power of the stock market is. You can hide that power behind phrases such as "the power of compounding interest" or other fancy words, but there is actually a different way of looking at it. It is a hedge against aging.
It does not protect you from literally aging, as you will still grow old. But what it does do is this: If you don't die young, the longer you live, the richer you get. The more your bones grow weak and your back hurts, the more money your stocks will make for you. As things get tougher and you lose loved ones, at least one thing keeps working in your favour. When other things are declining, this thing gets better. Like fine wine.
If you die young and don't get to enjoy the fruits of your savings, bad for you, but at least you don't have to go through the things that suck about aging. But then again, if at least you can get something positive out of aging, then this is it. You can't manually make the stock market move forward 30 years. It is something you have to live through yourself. But the good thing is that you can let that happen "on idle". You still live your life as the main character of your own movie.
If I had invested at least some money, let's say 1000 euros per year, into the stock market for every year since I was old enough to do so, that money alone would have compounded nicely and done great things for me up until today. Not even considering the next 30 years.
Sadly, most people don't understand this superpower, and the people who would benefit most, newborns, are rarely gifted this power by their parents, who spend their money on other things.
If I actually live to see the day that I turn 70, I hope that my investing strategy was good enough to look back on my investments proudly. Of course I could also screw it all up because it's the Truman Show after all and maybe the viewers want to see me suffer. But maybe not.
The next years are basically planned for me. I know when to sell, how much to sell, and what not to sell. It's all about how things are going to play out. I don't have the slightest clue. All I know is that the last years, going back to 2017, were me catching up with time and putting an effort into investing, when between 2012 and 2016, when I already had a brokerage account but didn't understand compounding, I wasted a lot of time. And before 2012, well, there were other priorities back then.
My investing strategy is risky, as it is very concentrated, but I have to cut a few corners because I don't want to simply be able to pay the electrical bill with my dividends. It's not enough. More than that needs to happen. But I at least have time on my side, because I am not in a hurry. So no, not interested in digital currency or rich over night schemes.
As I write this, I'm waiting for my Broadcom stock to pay me a nice dividend. Thanks to all the suckers who sold me their shares in the middle of March of 2020. It's been a nice quadruple since then, even excluding dividends.
