Why Sharing Your Stock Ideas Doesn't Always Work
I love to talk about stocks: stocks that made me money in the past, stocks I'm holding now and stocks I may buy in the future. However, it is not always going to work out sharing your ideas with friends, family or people you know. The reason is that you can't share your conviction to hold when the price dips. Paper hands get shaken out. You may have diamond hands, but not everyone will be able to wait until the diamond is fully formed.
People panic. People don't understand what they're invested in. In conditions where asset prices are dipping, they cave in and sell. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.
This is why you can't really talk about stocks with the average joe. They won't stay in the game long enough to win. Or they'll take profits too early. Even in something as proven over time as the S&P 500, people will start to doubt it unless they are seasoned investor.
Sometimes, we need to cut our losses in investing. Other times, we just need to wait longer for a rebound. When faced with this circumstance, being able to discern which right road to take is never guaranteed.
The truth is you can't help someone become a great investor. They have to earn it. I've realized not everyone has that in them and that's ok. Those people are best suited to buy index funds or real estate. You can share stock ideas with people, but you won't always be there to reassure them to hold through the tough times. I've fallen victim to my own miscalculations and sold at the wrong time. It happens. If you get your investment moves right consistently enough, the times you messed up won't matter as much.
As someone who was fortunate to have some early success with stocks, I wanted to share my thought process and what worked for me. I started this blog for the sake of sharing openly how I process my investing journey. Nothing written here is financial advice. It is a window into my own mind of investing that I choose to share. Could be useful or not. Ultimately, you can't make someone believe in stocks. They have to realize the belief themselves. Stocks go up over time. Will you stick around and bet on that or take your ball and go home?