Conquering The Fear of Missing Out

“The most stressful thought I have about not investing in stocks is that I’m missing out” Christal said when we talked about investing. Like so many people Christal knows that she should start investing because it would improve the life for her and the family. She explains that she is in a situation where it’s stressful to think about NOT investing but also stressful to start because she feels that there’s such a high barrier to entry.
“I have a feeling that if I started, I would actually be good at investing, but I lack knowledge and basic steps of how I get started”.

With so many other things in life, getting started investing in stocks can seem like a high hurdle to jump but once you get over the first hurdle and learn how to do it, it is much easier than a lot of people expect – that’s my experience when I train new investors in my investing training sessions. For example, I help people choose a broker and open a trading account – they make the decision themselves, but I help with all the knowledge and information they need to make an informed decision.
The next step is buying the first share, and this is a new hurdle because there’s difficult language. With my students, I walk through the vocabulary of the trading platform, so they understand what the buttons and graphs mean. It’s not that difficult once you get the basic terms down – it’s just that the lingo is made difficult, so that people prefer to go to a professional firm (and pay a high fee) instead of just doing it themselves. Once the language is explained, it feels less dangerous to press the button.

Christal grew up in a single parent household and her mom was not making great financial decisions. Christal is committed to changing the trajectory for her own family but for a long time it was difficult to make the decision and take the step because time was scarce. With two small kids and a busy partner, she didn’t feel they had the time or money.

This is another barrier because we only have so much time on our hands and in my world, time is the most valuable thing we have, so spending it wisely is key. Christal is thinking long term and the way she sees it is that she will invest the time and effort now – over the years investing will pay off so the family will get to spend more time together. It’s delayed gratification.

"What is something you’ll gain in life by investing?", I asked her.
“More influence on our financial situation”, she answered and continued “financial stability later in life. Happy family, time, financial independence, traveling and having fun”, she added. “And a safe home”.