“cryptocurrency, which appeals to investors who want to rush to richness. They thrive on pumping up the risk, investing in speculative stuff like crypto in the frothy pursuit of high rewards.” Umm, no. At least not in my case. Cryptocurrency is type of currency that is not backed by a country or a country’s banks. Escaping the tyranny of banks is why I’m interested in cryptocurrency. And the same thought process leads me to be interested in FOSS, and even the Fediverse, as opposed to giant social media corporations who make money off end users by monetizing their activities.
FWIW, I guess I’m a Boglehead, tho’ I’ve just heard the term. I’ve read Bogle’s book, and it makes sense to me to invest and earn gradually. Anything else is too risky. I try to ‘win by not losing’.
Yup, I’m interested in cryptocurrencies as an alternative to fiat currencies, but I don’t currently own any because it’s just far too unstable. I may buy a small amount as places continue to accept it, mostly because I think it’s cool.
I needed a bit of coaxing.
I traded stocks pretty actively in high school and did somewhat well, and I stayed away from it a bit in college because I didn’t have time. However, I thought about getting back into it once getting a real job, and that’s when my brother introduced me to FIRE and I decided to do some math. It turns out that when your timeline is 10-15 years instead of 30-40 years, consistent returns are a lot more important because your nest egg growth will be dominated by contributions. If I make a bad call in a 10-15 year retirement track, I could have to start over, which means I could double my time to retire. If I make a bad call in a traditional timeline, I have plenty of time to make it back.
So I decided to follow the Boglehead approach, and it has worked out pretty well.
I got lucky, the laziest investing method turned out to be one of the better ones. I was originally looking at which stocks pay the most dividends so I can contribute with minimal effort, then learned about index funds, and which funds the most reliable, etc… that got me into FIRE.
I think the stats that really drove the point home for me, was when I heard that the people who were the most successful investors were the ones who died or forgot their account log-in.
Original Motley Fool article (it does appear looking for the study now that this might be an urban legend, as there is no evidence of the original study)
From an analysis of client portfolios between 2003 and 2013, Fidelity found that their best investors were those who never touched their shares. But these weren’t investors with nerves of steel or those that somehow managed to pick winning shares from the outset. Fidelity’s most successful investors were already dead.
I feel the same way, I was doing the boring investment thing and didn’t get into FIRE proper until I’d already amassed a decent nest egg about 9 years into my career.
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