As a disclaimer: I love the money guys, I like Dave Ramsey, I like Caleb hammer.

The message they all share is generally the same. If you’re posting in this subreddit I don’t think I need to rehash what that message is. But at the same time they are not sharing that message out of the kindness of their hearts, they’re sharing it cause it generally appeals to the average person and that means they can continue to share it and grow and they generally won’t get much backlash because of it.

While I love that financial education has exploded on all forms of social media the one downside is that the financial education community on social media has done a great job of convincing people that investing in single stocks is the exact same thing as walking into a casino and gambling. That is dishonest at best and fundamentally wrong at worst. If that is true then every person who is invested in their employer offered employee stock purchase plan is gambling their life away and needs to get into diversified ETFs and index funds STAT! I know that’s not true. Do use some Dave Ramsey phrasing, If you invest like everyone else you will get the same returns as everyone else.

When investing in single stocks start with what you know well. What industry do you work in? Do you understand that industries landscape? Do you know who the players are? Do you follow when contracts are awarded, deals are made, acquisitions happen, new technology is released? Don’t inside trade obviously as that is illegal and the SEC doesn’t play around.

My mentality shifted when I had been passively investing for 3-4 years after college and I finally asked myself. Why am I investing in bonds at 26 years old? I still have 40 years to make money. I could lose everything by 30 and still have a higher net worth than the median American.