Raging, yelling and complaining — this is what the stock market evokes for people who aren’t partying on yachts every weekend. Granted, some people may say that these billionaires on yachts work really hard for their money, but is it actually hard work or is it manipulation of markets?
We all know the saying, “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” But do we know why? Or do we just assume that’s how the world works — especially the gambling oasis of the stock market?
When people hear the words “stock market” and “casinos” in the same sentence, they instantly assume people are saying the stock market is for gamblers. But is it really? The stock market is a lot more than gambling. It’s really a place for the average person, possibly even a janitor, to make millions of dollars.
Honestly, there’s almost no way for the average investor to beat these billionaires, backed by trillion-dollar companies, rich lawyers and fancy accountants. But, even if the average person can’t beat the billionaire, they can still beat the market. Making money in stocks is really more about time than how much money you can put in or how good you are at reading charts.
Surprisingly, the stock market is more than just looking at graphs and numbers — hoping to buy or sell when prices go up or down. As a matter of fact, the most profitable investors make the most money by doing absolutely nothing.
When I started investing, I couldn’t believe it either. I used to spend hours looking at charts and trying to beat a market full of people who probably had more money than my entire city. Little did I know, these people could really do whatever they wanted. They’re the people who control the market. They can buy and control millions of dollars worth of stocks, as long as they have snobby lawyers with names that sound like luxury cars to bail them out.
Just think about what Elon Musk did to the Tesla (TSLA) stock in 2021. According to the Washington Post, just by creating a small X, formerly known as Twitter, poll asking whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, Musk forced TSLA to face a 4.9% slide and a $65 billion slash off its evaluation. Even crazier, Elon wanted to sell this 10% in contracts purely to save money on his taxes and get some clout on X.
Can you imagine how many people lost hundreds of dollars just because this multi-billionaire wanted to save some pocket change on taxes and have a field day on social media?
Acts like these are the reason why people like Elon have given the stock market a bad name: the place where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
When trying to make money in the stock market, time is one of the most important factors. For instance, Ronald Read, a small janitor in Vermont, ended up leaving almost $8 million for charity after his death. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Mr. Read owned at least 95 stocks at the time of his death, many of which he had held for years, if not decades.”
The key to Read’s success was frugality and time, not charts. Over time, his investments continued to compound profits, which led to exponential growth in his portfolio. Really, he invested in the future of the company, not its present charts, avoiding a mistake that this new generation makes due to its obsession with “getting rich quick.”
Making $8 million by sitting around and waiting does not sound like gambling at a casino to me; it sounds like patience.
Of course, some might argue that the stock market is variable or does not always lead to a positive return, but this claim is not necessarily true. Just look at the stats. According to the SoFi stock brokerage, the stock market’s average return annually has been over 10%. With this being said, any average investor can invest only $300 every month and accumulate over $1 million in the next 35 years. Granted, many people can’t afford this monthly amount, but these same people can’t afford to gamble in casinos, and they still do.
Clearly, it is evident that these rich people, partying on yachts, control the market, so why play their game? The real game of investing isn’t about beating the market; it’s about mastering it.
