As a vehicle for making money, the stock market has a good record of being very effective. Particular stocks may fail, and there have been some famous crashes costing people fortunes, but overall it has traditionally been a good investment opportunity.
Still, many individuals, particularly ones from poorer households, don’t use it at all. Do you have money in the stock market?
Share why if you wish.
People can — and do, regularly — lose money in the stock market. But it has been a consistently good earner over the long term.
I have money in the stock market through my 401K, but not otherwise. I’m regretting that, a little, now. But I’m just not comfortable with the risk, and I’m too worried about a potential crash.
I’ve always been a fan of broad market index funds, and it’s thanks to them that I was able to retire early. There is short-term risk, but I’ve always taken the long term view.
It does feel a bit like gambling, in the abstract, except that “the house,” which always wins, is me. The majority of workers would benefit from entering the market, but when you live paycheck-to-paycheck, you can’t afford even a few dollars to do that, and that’s a shame. Any other place your money goes, its value is dropping every day (barring, perhaps, owning real estate) due to inflation, for cash, and depreciation, for physical goods.