As we get older we encounter different situations in life and we learn from them. Sometimes what we learn can be applied the next time something happens. However, there are some things that I just wish I could go back in time and tell myself to do earlier.
Now that I’m in my mid 30’s I’ve learned a few things about investing my money. I still have a bunch to learn, but I feel confident that I’m on the right path to financial freedom (whatever that means).
So, what would I tell a younger me?
The first and most important thing I would tell myself is to start investing in the stock market sooner. I would also tell myself to not be scared about investing and invest as much as I could do comfortably.
I was in the early 20s when I started investing in the stock market, but honestly I should have started sooner. I wasn’t really thinking about saving back then though. I didn’t see the benefits that it could bring down the line. Instead, I would find other ways to use my money.
It wasn’t until I was in my early to mid 20s that I reluctantly started saving in the stock market. I would put a little into a stock here and there to increase my holdings in a couple select stocks. I started to watch a few of them grow and I just became hooked.
Then the market crashed
This is where I really wish I had risked more at a younger age. I already had holding in Verizon, Bank of America, Visa, and Google. Then, all of a sudden things were beginning to crash. Over the course of 2 years from 2007 to 2009 I saw my account lose lots of value. However, I knew that what was going on was part of a crash and a bear market that wouldn’t last forever.
Although I did know that I still had some fear in me that things might continue to go down. I still bought shares on the way down though. My Bank of America stock had lost over 50% of its value and then I doubled down on my shares. Then a few months later it had lost almost 80% of its value and I bought even more shares. I wish I would have bought much more than what I did, but I’m glad I bought something.
I also got more Google, Visa, and Verizon as they went down. If I could go back in time I would have been more aggressive and bought more shares than I did at the time. I would have told myself to continue to buy the good companies on the way down and then continue to buy them on the way up from the bear market crash.
It’s easy to say now in hindsight that I could have and should have invested more in the market after it had been hit so hard, but when you’re in the middle of the doom and gloom it can be scary to put your money into something that’s falling in price.
I shouldn’t have been scared though. I was so young that I had tons of time to get out of any downturn that was going on at the time. I should have been buying continuously on the way down and through the bottoming out of the market in march of 2009. I was lucky enough to get into a lot of stocks during the downturn, but I should have been more aggressive because I had the time to afford to do so. That’s the number one thing I would tell my younger self. Be more aggressive.