The stock market can be anything you want it to be.
Have the risk tolerance of a deer galavanting across a five-lane highway during rush hour? Buy a bunch of high-volatility stuff and hope for a 10-bagger (a stock that appreciates by 10 times its original value).
People have done it … and made a lot of money, too.
If risk is something you’re significantly less comfortable taking on, the stock market has a place for you, too. Buy beaten-down, low-volatility, high-yield dividend stocks to help you sleep through the night until, a whole lot of nights later, you have a whole lot more money.
That works, too … just ask Warren Buffett.
Your portfolio can be a casino or a savings account.
Whether you’re a high-roller or perfectly comfortable setting up shop next to an old lady chain-smoking her way through a hot streak at the penny slots, the market has a place for you.
In the mood for a slow burn or an action thriller?
As a market participant, you’re the director of your movie. You make the casting decisions (investments), you make the last-minute edits (trades) … it’s all you.
The market can be your best friend (or worst enemy)
When you become a market participant, you’re presented with two money-making opportunities:
Investing
Trading
Investors buy stocks they believe will appreciate over long periods. They add to their positions incrementally (and opportunistically) and rarely sell.
Traders, meanwhile, well, trade. They buy stocks while they’re on sale before selling them back to the market (preferably for more than they paid), sometimes as soon as the same day they purchased them.
You can choose to be either (or both) … everyone’s different.
Investor, trader … whatever. That’s not the most important distinction a market participant can make, anyway. Not in my opinion, at least.
To me, being a market participant is all about harnessing the power of the market. To me, the market is more of a tool than an exchange. It’s a way to put my money to work so I don’t have to work so hard in the future.
Participating is about making the market work for me, not against me.
It’s about taking advantage of all the market has to offer, not zeroing in on one specific stock or market-beating thesis. The market isn’t undefeated — there are a handful of legends out there who make outperforming it look routine — but, well, let’s just say it has a pretty good record.
How I’m harnessing the power of the market (and how you can, too)
If you stuffed $10 under your pillow each night, it would take you 100,000 nights to squirrel away $1,000,000.
That’s a lot of nights (nearly 274 years’ worth).
I mean, I want to be a millionaire as much as the next guy, but, c’mon, who has that kind of time?
I don’t.
Fortunately, I do have that kind of money. You probably do, too.
Better yet: I found a way to grow that money faster than any savings account (or pillow) ever could. Instead of saving, I’m going to invest my way to a million … and I’m going to do it at least 250 years faster than if I were to just stack $10 bills on top of each other until I have a pile of cash worth enough to make me a millionaire.
The S&P 500 has returned 10.04% annually over the last 30 years, as of the end of December 2023. Assuming that trend continues, simply investing $10 a day into a market-tracking ETF (exchange-traded fund) seems like a great way to speed things up considerably.
So … there’s that.
Also, some of these ETFs pay dividends … and some, like Schwab’s U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) pay increasingly-growing dividends. SCHD has boosted its quarterly payout at a 1.45% annualized clip over the last 10 years.
So … there’s also that.
The daily deposits will buy fractional shares and, over time, those fractional shares will add up to a full share, then two, then three, then … you get it. Those shares, in addition to appreciating at a similar pace as the market, will also earn dividends and, if reinvested back into the position, those small payments will turn into more shares and more dividends.
It’s not the most sophisticated plan … but it works. I know because I’ve been doing it. Why do you think I started this newsletter (and named it what I did)? I said it before and I’ll say it again: the stock market can be anything you want it to be. Navigating it can be as easy or complicated as you decide to make it.
I’m keeping things simple, investing $10 a day into SCHD. This newsletter is dedicated to that journey. That, and inspiring others to take advantage of all the stock market has to offer.
Newsletter posts will vary in regularity, but I post about the journey with daily updates on Instagram and Threads.
You can check the portfolio anytime on my blog, too.
We don’t all have the winning lotto numbers, rich relatives, or the ability to throw a football 65 yards through the air in front of millions upon millions of people watching on TV, a hundred thousand others in the stadium, and, of course, the 245-pound linebacker bearing down on us as we release it.
Most of us, though, have what it takes to accumulate life-changing wealth by investing in the stock market.
A phone
Internet connection
Disposable income ($10 a day)
If you have a phone, you most likely have some type of data plan complete with access to the internet, too. If you have that, you can get a brokerage account, and, once opened, you’ll need to carve out $10 or so from your daily budget to throw into it, but, honestly, that’s about it.
The market will take care of the rest.
You don’t have to be a genetic freak to become a millionaire.
You don’t need to be a multi-platinum artist to get paid while you sleep.
Even the author of this newsletter — a nameless, faceless guy on the internet — can do it … and this is where I’ll show you how.
Are you a market participant?
There are more than a few ways to make money in the stock market, but you can’t take advantage of any of them if you don’t participate. Don’t have much money? Me either. I mean, I’m not investing huge chunks at a time — $10 every day — but it adds up fast. Consistency is key and, if I can build a million-dollar portfolio, anyone else with a phone, internet connection, and a little disposable income can, too.
If you aren’t already, start investing today.
Need a brokerage?
Investing is impossible without a brokerage. If you’re in need, I recommend Robinhood. Sign up with this link and we’ll both get a little something to brighten our financial futures. The best time to start investing was yesterday. Today’s the next best and, well, if you don’t start today I highly encourage you to pencil it in for sometime soon. Your future self will thank you.
Disclaimer: I’m a market participant, not a financial advisor. This is not financial advice … but it could change your life.
To invest, or not to invest? That is the question ... and answering it correctly could change your life.