This is a three-part answer, if I may. My first experience was in 1993 or so when I was still in the military. One of my co-workers talked about how he was investing in an IRA and linked me up with his "advisor" (non-fiduciary). I ended up starting an IRA with monthly fees, annual fees, front-load fees, etc. It was a horrible choice but it got me started, which was the important thing. Fast forward a few years, to 1999. I was working overseas as a Department of Defense contractor. I had recently retired from the military (senior NCO) and had part of a pension from that, not really a whole lot (my ex- got part of it). They hired somebody from the States who constantly talked about his stock investments (this was at the height of the dot-com boom) and I started listening. At the time, I had no idea about how to buy stocks or anything like that - but I heard about 401(k) contributions and started throwing money into one. And while I have no idea why I didn't panic in 2000 or 2008, I just looked at the dwindling account balances and laughed. Sometimes laughter is a great investment strategy! Finally, somewhere between 2005-2010, when I was once again working overseas as a Department of Defense contractor, I worked with a group of people who were a lot more financially savvy. They started talking about a lot of other stuff regarding finances, and with more Internet resources available (and lots of "slow" mid shifts), I started learning more on my own. Then the FIRE movement started and I learned about the beauty of index funds... It was a gradual process and I would have done a lot of things differently than I did - but I'm still grateful for the results.
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This is a three-part answer, if I may. My first experience was in 1993 or so when I was still in the military. One of my co-workers talked about how he was investing in an IRA and linked me up with his "advisor" (non-fiduciary). I ended up starting an IRA with monthly fees, annual fees, front-load fees, etc. It was a horrible choice but it got me started, which was the important thing. Fast forward a few years, to 1999. I was working overseas as a Department of Defense contractor. I had recently retired from the military (senior NCO) and had part of a pension from that, not really a whole lot (my ex- got part of it). They hired somebody from the States who constantly talked about his stock investments (this was at the height of the dot-com boom) and I started listening. At the time, I had no idea about how to buy stocks or anything like that - but I heard about 401(k) contributions and started throwing money into one. And while I have no idea why I didn't panic in 2000 or 2008, I just looked at the dwindling account balances and laughed. Sometimes laughter is a great investment strategy! Finally, somewhere between 2005-2010, when I was once again working overseas as a Department of Defense contractor, I worked with a group of people who were a lot more financially savvy. They started talking about a lot of other stuff regarding finances, and with more Internet resources available (and lots of "slow" mid shifts), I started learning more on my own. Then the FIRE movement started and I learned about the beauty of index funds... It was a gradual process and I would have done a lot of things differently than I did - but I'm still grateful for the results.
Post: How did you get started as an investor?
Link to comment from August 20, 2022
Bonds. Need I say more? :)
Post: What financial topic do you find most confusing?
Link to comment from August 20, 2022