None of this has anything to do with smarts. Much of it has to do with fear instilled by the fi industry itself which is designed to make you doubt yourself and think, oh, money people are So Smart! nope, just people, like you and me.
Deconstructing most of the articles out there, it's about scaring you into needing their services because nobody but them knows anything about money. That's bunk. The scare factor about healthcare costs has just started, which is a great boost for LTC among other fi products. There are endless wordy diatribes designed to confuse so you give up and let someone else make money off your money by pretending that you can't do it yourself. Wordy analysis meant to cause you to stop looking up acronyms or get a headache wondering about that yield cross or other obscure fake tellers of doom to come.
I simply set out to take care of things myself, and so I did. The difference between me and many others is that I did it Young. I spent a lot of time in the library and with home delivery of Kiplinger's magazine, until I outgrew it. I would also say that Jane Bryant Quinn's Making the Most of Your Money was a helper back then. Then, since I learn by doing, I invested. Thirty years later, pretty much all in equities all the time, I am still waiting to lose money in the market. I invest in Companies, not the market, and that is an important difference.
Anyone doubting their smarts needs to take a look at their own lives and think through what you have accomplished that you would not have thought possible when you were 18. Nothing at all to do with smarts. We learn what we are interested in, and if interested enough, put a lot of time into it. I was young and poor and certainly had the time (and lack of social life) to study up on one of life's most important things, money. it's only important because it is critical for obtaining goods and services necessary, and I was pretty sure that graduating at recession, I was screwed and needed every nickel to start working for me Immediately because I was probably only ever going to earn nickels. Granted, I have a good head for business, and numbers, and had a shiny new business degree that I earned alongside some nasty jerks that were heading into managing other people's money. I wouldn't trust them not to cheat off my test, no way I would trust them with proceeds from my toils.
I have lived with my strategy for a long time. I have ignored fear and greed of others while I quietly go about feathering my nest. I 'm not doing any of this for bragging rights, I am doing this to float my old butt to the finish line with as much control of it as I can have, with flexibility (80 companies covering all the industries I want to be in and definitely sidestepping some I don't want a part of (planes and autos, for example, tho I like railroads and GPC)). So far, taking a risk on American business has panned out. In fact, the biggest risk I face is not market crash, recession, div cuts, etc., it is the sudden and total annihilation of US commerce. As I deem that risk to be so unlikely as to never come to pass, I am freed of worry. I could lose 10 companies overnight and still be ok. It might hurt, depending on which 10, but I'd be fine.
Anyone scared to own stock, just give it a shot with a bit of money that you can afford to lose. Now that there are no-fee trades, just try it. Don't look at it often (the key to not making sudden bad decisions! don't just do something, Sit There!), let it ride a year or 5 and see what happens. Maybe $100 becomes $125 or $75, or $500 (I am amazed at how many quick doubles I have seen in my own accounts, but, honestly, 2010 to now has been PHENOMENAL), you still have as many shares as you bought. I swear this is not as scary as others would have you believe and every one of you has the power to prove it to yourself. Sure, companies go bankrupt, even great companies can hit a nasty skid, but over decades, the direction of the stock market is Up.
Look, I love this stuff. It has been key to my freedom and general lack of tether to the stock market. I follow the companies, not the stock. If they keep making money, I do, too. I have been an oddball div investor for a long time, the weirdo that doesn't play the market but is somehow in it. Div investing fell out of favor because others could not make money off it. Buy low, sell high generates fees on both sides, that's why this is what Wall Street wants you to do. My buy and hold has not dented their lifestyle one bit, but I have kept all those extra fees and expenses in my account to work for me. Buy and hold is not for everyone, but I am so glad that I made that rule for myself and considered my investments to be super secret savings not to be tapped unless Dire Emergency. Lucky me to not encounter that.
I simply look at things differently than others, but will end on these little reminders: it is a market of stocks, not a stock market. The market runs on investor sentiment, which is the only reason that there are most everything up or most everything down days - it is investors making that happen, not the companies whose stock trades.