Finance4Us Publishing & Coaching

08/30/2025

This is 100% the truth. When you truly understand the difference between gambling at the casino and strategic long-term diversified investing in the stock market, you're well on your way to becoming wealthy. The fact is that our human psychology works against us and we must RE-train ourselves to take the opposite action or in-action when the drop comes.... which it always does... thankfully. Buying low and selling high is easy to understand but VERY difficult to execute when your life's nest egg is "at stake". Understanding this lesson is truly the key. Study history to understand what the future will almost assuredly bring. Whenever possible buy the dips and wait for everyone else to pile back in. Go get yours while others that haven't learned this lesson panic. 😎

A frequent comparison among people who haven't learned about investing is that the stock market is like a casino and that buying stocks is equivalent to gambling your money.

From the outside, that might be what it looks like. You see rich getting richer, people blowing their life savings, and everything in between. Like most things in life though, the devil is in the details.

Part of what makes this confusing is that you CAN treat the stock market like a casino. Heck, there is multi-million person sub-reddit called WallStreetBets that doesn't even hide the fact that they are doing that. Short term fluctuations are effectively random, so if you throw your money in, it kind of is like a roulette table.

What's even MORE confusing is that some people research a ton, and then do what you see on this graph. They let their behavioral tendencies and fear get the best of them and they do the classic "buy high, sell low." To be a truly good investor, you have to be willing to wait WAY longer than any gambler or emotional stock buyer would wait to reap the benefits of your decision.

When you take guess work out of which stocks to buy by buying an index fund, and you take timing luck out of the equation by ALWAYS buying consistently, luck is eliminated from the investing equation.

Historically if you do this, you will ALWAYS make money over a decade plus long period. I'm not kidding, always. And if that's not true in the future? Well, if population growth stops, innovation grinds to a halt, and there is zero global efficiency improvement, your portfolio will be the least of your problems.

Buy an index fund and chill and you won't end up like our friend on the graph here. End of rant!

- Matt

08/14/2025

Always helps to have perspective. When the media is telling you the sky is falling and this time is different it's nearly always been time to buy more when you have a long-term time horizon (3-5 yr).

Bear markets pale in comparison to bull markets, both in market movement and duration. A good reminder for every long-term investor.

07/01/2025

Given the long-term (multi-decade) upward trend of the broad market being a "bull" is the right position. We've seen that lovely "V" recovery play itself out again and again and again. Stock market indexes are at all-time highs...again. That said, it's so simple and 'boring' that innate psychology works against far too many investors. Set it and forget it is a thing for investing too. 😎

05/17/2025

Here we are six weeks after my last post and while it's been a wild ride thru tariffs and other geo-political curve balls, we now can see the classic "V" recovery. If you stayed firm on the investments in your portfolio, it is nearly back at it's all time high. If you thought the world was ending (again) and sold low, and are still on the side lines, you've missed out on a 20% rocket recovery. This "V" pattern repeats itself often in investing and it has more to do with human psychology than finance. People panic because they think "this time is different' and when they realize it's not, they rush back into the market. Savy investors can anticipate this and use this pattern to increase their returns, but most investors should just hold (and add) to their investments through these unavoidable downturns. All the best on your investment journey. Go get you sum. 🤓

04/04/2025

Thought I'd share this at this time of stock market doom/gloom. Having a long-term perspective makes all the difference when investing. This too shall pass...

03/15/2025

What an incredible time to buy! Afterall, these are the stock market fire sales that in hindsight we'll regret 3-9 months from now IF we allow fear to take over. Far worse yet if you actually sell your positions. Wealth building takes commitment and a willingness to NOT follow the sheep. 😎
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DMgNJ2oMn/

01/02/2025

Perfectly said. Had to share...
🤓 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15aFww2ZXw/

11/12/2024

The stock market rewards discipline, sacrifice and long-term vision. The trend is your friend and the trend goes way longer than two years. The better day to invest was yesterday, the next best day is today. See it, be it.

11/09/2024

Incredible week in both US politics and the markets. 🤗The all-time largest jump in the stock market after a presidential election. While these things often have a bit of a short-term snapback, the market is very well positioned for 2025. A new America FIRST president arriving in January, declining Fed rates, strong labor market, growing economy and near target inflation are the stuff of dreams. Also, geo-politically a likely end (or at least US funding) of the Russia/Ukraine war. While no time is perfect, 2025 is setup to be another outstanding year for the stock market. If you're still on the sidelines, please consider increasing your exposure to the diverse market via Indexes or ETFs (ex. S&P 500). Remember holding your money in cash is a guaranteed way to reduce its value going forward as inflation may be down, but it is always present. Best of luck.

08/16/2024

Many people delude themselves about continuing to work into their golden years as a substitute for making difficult choices now by investing in their retirement nest egg. Your health and employer may have a completely different plan. Investing NOW gives you the option to work or retire on your terms later. The future is coming whether we ignore it or not today. Choose wisely.

07/02/2024

Please don’t tell me that you want exceptional wealth if you’re not willing to do exceptional work over an extended time period. The road to wealth is both hard and lonely… in the beginning. Grind now and relax later. There will be a later.

05/28/2024

Although it says 52 week high for the Nasdaq index this is actually an all-time high. So the negative pundits got it wrong again. At some point there will be a 10%+ correction, but how much of a positive return should one give up to avoid it? The long-term trend is clearly up.