You Can Still Make Millions If You Started Investing Late
Even if you started investing late, you can still retire with over $1.2 million!
Mark Your Calendars for the Date The Markets Change
Although stocks began cooling last Friday, the markets trended higher overall to end the week with its third straight weekly gain.
That was mainly because investor confidence in an economic soft landing grew after the Fed cut interest rates.
They said they cut rates by half a percentage point to preserve a healthy economy. But as I’ve stated before, cutting rates by 0.50% actually has a track record of doing the opposite.
So, will you believe the Fed’s statements about the economy and invest more money into your equity positions? Or will you make a different decision based on their track record?
Before making a hasty decision, let me propose a third option: Pay close attention to the jobs report that will be released on Friday, October 4th.
If job openings increase and unemployment declines, markets may continue their bull run in the coming weeks.
However, if job openings decline and unemployment increases, that data might suggest that they didn’t cut rates to preserve a healthy economy but instead started cutting rates out of concern for the economy.
In that case, additional rate cuts won’t keep stocks afloat as they have been for weeks. Instead, investor sentiment will likely change, and stocks will trade lower.
What Does Amazon’s RTO Mean for the Economy?
Amazon’s CEO, Andy Jassy, wrote a letter to Amazon employees stating that they are expected to return to the office five days a week starting on January 2, 2025.
Nine business days after that, Dell demanded the same from its employees.
These businesses are not alone. Disney, J.P. Morgan, X, and many other giant companies agree that workers are more productive in the office.
Unfortunately, a recent report from FlexJobs reveals that 57 percent of remote workers say they would “absolutely” quit if they couldn’t continue working remotely.
Some say that would devastate the economy. Others disagree and say that artificial intelligence would pick up much of the slack.
Both are terrible outcomes for the American people, in my opinion, especially when the economy is trying to find stability.
However, where there are cons, there are always pros, so be prepared to capitalize on AI investments if there is a second wave of AI utilization in the labor market.
How Jay’s Getting $1.2M With a Late Start on Investing
Last week, a YouTube subscriber commented on a YouTube Short I posted. He said he’s 29 and just opened a Roth IRA. Congratulations, Jay!
Millions of Americans make excuses for not investing in their future, but he decided not to be one of them. We just met, but I couldn’t be more proud of him if I’d known him for years.
In fact, Jay opened his Roth IRA account younger than I did. I opened mine four years ago at the age of 31.
Here are 3 lessons you can learn from Jay and I:
We all have to start somewhere: Thousands of people on the internet say you should’ve opened a retirement account at age 18. They’re right; it’s best to invest in retirement as early as possible. However, if you’ve already lived past that age (congrats), it can be discouraging to hear. Use me and Jay as examples; it’s never too late to start! Assuming Jay keeps maxing out his contributions and gets a 10% annual return until he retires, he’ll have over $1.2M in tax-free money. Even though he got a “late” start, I’m sure that amount will still be useful in retirement.
Ask questions and seek help: Jay and I started talking because he watched my video and then asked where I invested my son’s money. My reply led to another, and I gave him advice I wish someone had given me as a beginner. Now, I personally want to see Jay do well on his investment journey. Asking questions is how he got help from someone who has already traveled his road. You should do the same.
Look at your accounts at least once per year: Too often, beginner investors believe they can buy stocks and forget about the account until they retire. Wrong! Look at your investments to be sure you’re getting the returns you want! If they are underperforming, alter your strategy. For example, I’ve changed my Roth IRA investing strategy three times. After four years, I finally found one that works well for me. The graph below is a snapshot of my account’s performance over the last four years. You’ll see that I started getting exponential growth in July of 2023. That final change helped my annualized return outpace the average 10% return of the S&P 500.
Tools and Resources
As a beginner, I advised Jay to look into low-cost ETFs that track the S&P 500.
Why? Because the S&P 500 has an average annual return of 10.628% over the last 100 years. It’s almost impossible to lose money if you’re tracking that index, and it’s a wise investment as he’s learning how to invest for better returns in the future.
Follow the instructions in this video to get a few low-cost ETFs that I put together for you.
Helpful and useful information! 👍🏾