The Me Market

Investment Advice

When I was a financial advisor, I met with people and knew they expected to be sitting across from the next Oracle of Omaha or at least the Oracle of Westchester County.  They had the assumption that because I was “in the business,” I had special insight into the markets and how to make them lots of money.  Truthfully, I thought that when I became a financial advisor, I would acquire that very knowledge.  Then I became a financial advisor, and I liken the journey to that of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.  I was hoping to reach the end of the training and meet the Wizard, who would grant my ragtag friends and me everything we ever wanted.  And similar to Dorothy, what I learned when I pulled back the curtain is that the Wizard is just an old guy hiding behind gadgets trying to make us believe in miracles.  Wall Street is FULL of old white guys trying to convince us to believe in market miracles. Just as Dorothy and her friends learned that they held the magic within themselves, the same applies for success in your personal wealth. There truly is no great and powerful market miracle except the one that is inside you. Advisors love to talk about “Asset Allocation” and the value of having your investments in different asset categories, which then leads you to invest in different markets. The “traditional” markets include: the bond market, stock market,  and real estate market. What I realized is that there is one market that is more powerful, with the ability to provide the most consistent returns over time - it is what I call the “ME” market.The ME market is what you are able to save every year.  On average, a well-diversified portfolio will give you 6-8% returns over time. This means if you have $10,000 to invest, you would make around $600­–$800 a year from the traditional markets. The wizards of Wall Street want us all to believe that 6-8% returns are a good thing. Don’t get me wrong - positive returns are better than nothing. If I found $600 on the street, I would be happy. However, there is a better market to rely on and that is the ME. Can you challenge yourself to save (i.e. make) more than $600 a year or $50 a month? If you are employed, I KNOW you can!! In fact, I bet you could save $1,000 or more. If you can do this, then you can expect a 10% or greater return on your money. If you could get to $3,000 a year or $250 a month, you would have given yourself a 30% return for the year. There is not a SINGLE investment or market that you could invest in that would GUARANTEE you a 30% return for the year. But if you commit to the ME market, the ME market can outperform the other markets consistently over time. I challenge you to invest in the ME market and prove all of the old white guys wrong.  Whatever you have saved, whether it’s $0, $10,000, or $100,000, make it a goal to beat the Wall Street numbers this year and make more than 6-8%. If you don’t know how to start or you don’t think you can do it, reach out to me, and I’ll help you.  Keep me posted on your progress and keys to success so we can all beat the wizards this year!