Something interesting happened last week, as I am sure we are all now aware. During a meeting the next day, a colleague turned to me and asked what I thought about the recent debacle regarding Game Stop. I sheepishly confessed I had not even heard about the controversy. It seems that since I moved my retirement plans and HSA into self-direction entirely, my interest in the public markets had completely diminished. After quickly plugging back into the financial news and learning about the unusual actions and wild swings of transactions – it reinforced the notion that having all your funds in the stock market is foolhardy.
Is investing really just gambling, as many younger stock market players profess, or something where we put our hard-earned money to grow, providing capital for deserving companies? Where do volatile investment choices such as precious metals and cryptocurrencies fit into the mix?
Choice is difficult – I learned that when I first rolled over my 401K to Charles Schwab, gaining access to thousands of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The biggest change was when my eyes were opened to the potential of accessing private stock, real estate, and so much more. The most difficult part was to educate myself on the choices and find the intersection of risk and reward that provides the greatest comfort.
Congratulations to all our clients who have decided to side-step markets that are manipulated by social media and hedge funds. And if you still want to enjoy risk, Bitcoin, gold, new business start-ups, and hard-money lending are still available to you at NuView. Game Stop? Not so much.
All the best in your investments,
Glen Mather
