Hi Jeremy, lately I’ve been feeling anxious about money and investing as I know it today. I totally subscribe to spend below your means and invest early and often into index funds. However lately I’ve been hearing a lot of noise about several things - 1) crypto and how money as we know it is going to change, 2) investing into stocks and the market in general as in the way we know society is changing and money will have no meaning or it’s a bubble that’s about to pop and there won’t be a market in 5-10 yrs 3) hyperinflation which is 50% rise in inflation for 3 yrs or more. Could you speak about this?? What are your thoughts
Hey @Sonia!
I think it’s important to try to identify the difference between investing and speculation. Investing is buying things that provide income and are likely to go up in value (think real estate and index funds). Speculation is gambling by buying and selling based on guesses about what is going to happen in the future. Almost all rich people get rich by investing, not speculating.
That said:
Maybe, I don’t know. I can’t see the future. I’m not a huge fan of crypto because it’s pure speculation. If you wanted to devote a small portion of your portfolio to speculating in crypto (<10%), go for it.
This is getting pretty tin foil hat conspiracy theory for me. The world works because companies do stuff. Stuff like grow food, build houses, ship packages, etc. That’s still gonna exist in 5-10 years. Owning a piece of those companies (through an index fund) is a great way to build wealth.
I don’t know if that’s going to happen because I can’t see the future. If hyperinflation does happen, I’d want to hedge against it by owning things that represent real ownership in real stuff and are likely to go up along with inflation. Things like index funds and real estate.
tl;dr: Live below your means. Invest in index funds and real estate. Speculate a bit on crypto if you want.
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