Be Patient When Celebrating 🏖
Quote Of The Week 🖋
I posted the above tweet during the week. Have a read and try to reflect whether you’re chasing these things too early in your own life.
Celebrating early is the main reason why people in their 20’s end up in financially difficult situations. Society is primed to make you act this way but in order to be financially responsible, you have to avoid this trait at all costs.
The house, car and holiday you want will always be there. The goal is to take steps today that will allow you to maintain that lifestyle on a daily basis, and not just for a couple of weeks a year.
You can enjoy your life, just remember to do it responsibly.
Market Overview 📉
The stock market spent most of the week trending slightly higher after last week’s rally. However, the leak of one Elon Musk email led to a negative swing midweek that continued until the end of the week.
What did the email say? Musk told top Tesla executives that he thinks the economy is in a “super bad place” and that they will need to fire 10% of all Tesla employees worldwide as a result. This contrasts with the views of the US president Joe Biden, who thinks the (US) economy will be just fine based on the current data.
As of now, it looks as if market participants are being influenced more by Musk’s warning than Biden’s reassurance i.e. investors would rather believe the richest man in the world over the leader of the world’s most powerful nation.
I commend what Elon Musk has achieved and his fortune is rightfully his, but it does make me wonder how consistent the “money = power” equation has been throughout history. It seems as if that statement is as true today as it was thousansds of years ago.
Cryptocurrencies spent the week building resistance at last week’s levels and a short lived rally mid-week was likely halted by the same Musk comments. Building up resistance at these levels is a positive sign in the short-term as it provides credence that some of the selling in the markets is currently overdone.
What does all this mean for your portfolio? I often got asked over the last few years “when’s the best time to invest?”. The best time to invest was ten years ago, the second best time is today.
No one has a crystal ball to know which directions the markets will go in the short term but a consistent action plan to invest* weekly / monthly is often the best route to building a strong portfolio over the long term.
*Start investing from as little as £10 at eToro, one of the easiest to use investment platforms.
Be Patient When Celebrating 🏖
Elon Musk’s journey to becoming the richest man in the world today provides a prime case study of being patient when it comes to celebrating.
Musk was one of the co-founders of the website that would become PayPal and the company was sold to eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion shortly after its IPO. Elon Musk made over $180m from this sale.
Having $180m in the bank at the age of 31 would be enough for most of us to last a lifetime. However, Elon was only getting started and at the time, he was quoted as saying:
“My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180m. I put $100m in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.”
He didn’t start celebrating. He doubled down on ideas that he thought would change the world.
He created a space company with the aim of taking humans to Mars and developing re-usable self-landing rockets. He invested and took the reigns of Tesla at a time when electric cars were mocked in public and a pipe dream to many.
His reward for taking those outsized risks? His net worth ($200bn+) is now more than 1,000x higher than it was 20 years ago.
The numbers in this story don’t matter as much as the importance of being determined to keep going until we achieve our goals.
The message isn’t to burn yourself out working at all costs, the message is to work enough to:
To be at peace with yourself
Have the wealth that gives you the freedom to do what you want when you want with who you want
Be patient today so you can celebrate properly tomorrow.
Investing 101 🎢
I’ve been sharing key investment strategies, background on cryptocurrencies and some of my largest investments in the newsletter.
CRYPTO MEMES
The meme above would put a smile on the face of those familiar with the rollercoaster of emotions that one goes through when invested in crypto.
If you only started dabbling in crypto in the last year, chances are that you’re likely sitting on losses and wondering whether it’s all worth it. These are normal feelings to have.
This is exactly what I felt like after I first invested in Bitcoin in 2017 and then watched it lose 80% of it’s value over the next three years. It was painful to watch but it taught me the value of being patient with your investments.
My article “My Bitcoin Journey” covers how I managed to get through this period in more detail. It is a good read if you’re still doubting the potential of cryptocurrencies to change the world over the next three decades just as the internet has done over the last three.
It may be difficult to feel that way during a downturn, but you only have to look at all the investment and development currently taking place in the finance industry to integrate cryptocurrencies within the global markets.
For the financially astute, this pullback could present an opportunity to invest* in established cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum for the long term.
*Disclaimer: This is not investment advice and is purely for educational purposes. I am sharing investment ideas. Please do your own research before making investing decisions.
What I’m Reading 📖
We spend our lives thinking about what other people think of us. The actual truth? No one is thinking of us as much as we think because we’re all too busy thinking about oursevles.
This short article, Research Confirms That No One is Really Thinking About You, covers this topic in more detail and highlights the scientific evidence backing up this view.
We’re all too busy with our own fears, hopes and dreams to think much of others. Keep that in mind next time you hesitate to make a decision for fear of what other people may think.
Did You Know? 🏔
Most people know how big Alaska (largest US state) is. For reference, it’s about 6 times the size of the whole of the UK. What many people don’t know is that Alaska was originally a part of Russia.
The American Civil War lasted for four years from 1861 to 1865. The war was fought between the northern states, who wanted to end slavery and the southern states, who wanted to ensure its continued existence.
After the northern states won and abolished slavery in 1865, the US was on the lookout to expand its territory. Alaska had been occupied by early Russian settlors from Sibera as early as 1732.
The difficulty of managing and supplying such a remote area led to settlements being abandoned in the mid 19th century with the Russians eventually selling Alaska to the US in 1867 for only $7.2m ($140m today)!
Question For You 💭
What’s your dream home, car and holiday?
What change do you need to make today to make that dream a reality in the next ten years?
Thank You 😊
If you’ve got this far down, thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter. Enjoyed what you read? Please take a moment to share with family and friends.
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