What is YOUR Greatest Investment?

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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been lucrative for me. In spite of that, I do not consider them to have been my greatest investment!

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Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay


In 2008, I graduated from college. After tons of networking and about a million applications, I got an interview for a phones position at a discount broker. Being a stockbroker was my lifelong dream, and I was pumped! I had my final interview on September 14, 2008. The following day, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, all hell broke loose, and the brokerage firm called to tell me that they were in a hiring freeze. Dreams crushed...

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Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay


One day later, they changed their mind. "We have a training class that started three weeks ago and we think you can catch up. Can you get fingerprinted tomorrow and start Monday?"

Why yes, yes I can. I loved being in the markets day to day, but I hated being on the phones. The hiring freeze was still on (my last-minute exception excluded) and extended to salary freezes companywide. So it didn't matter if I was amazing, advancement was limited... and I absolutely hated being on the phones. Fast forward a few months and I was having panic attacks in the parking lot, unable to step out of the car and walk into the building.

I ended up leaving, going back to my dead-end (but not anxiety-inducing) data entry job, and submitting MBA applications.


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Image by Simon Alpha from Pixabay

So what does this have to do with investing?

When I finished my MBA and entered the workforce again, I was consulting for hedge funds and my starting salary was 53% more than my salary had been as a stockbroker. Then as I dedicated my time and energy into learning everything I could about my new job in fintech, I grew my salary at 21% per year for the next three years.

Later I started focusing my outside work efforts into better understanding crypto, applying my fintech knowledge and understanding of how processes work within big hedge funds to better choose which tokens to invest in and which projects merited additional time investment as well.

As I enter any space, the first thing I do is learn everything I possibly can about it. That helps me better evaluate any potential risks and red flags, but also frequently uncovers the best niches where amazing profits are available.

Capital is useful, but knowledge is priceless!


My greatest investment has been in self-education.

What has been your greatest investment?

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20 comments
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Investment into selfeducation is for sure the best!
I just graduated and am trying to get a job in stock markets, but it‘s hard at the moment due to covid and hiring freezes because of home office...

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Do you know exactly what you would like to be doing in stock markets? Some things are much easier to get into (like financial planning the bar is very low because turnover is quite high). Investment banking and actual asset management are very hard to break into.

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I would like go work in asset management.
Currently I'm doing an internship but it's pretty hard to get the actual job afterwards...

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Do your best work, study what you can even after hours. Attend any networking opportunities that it makes available to you. Connect to all your co-workers on LinkedIn. If you don't get the job, ask the people that you've worked the most closely with whether they know of anything else that might be available.

There are often jobs that are word-of-mouth or not actively posted anywhere yet. Are you going for the CFA designation?

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Loved hearing the background stories of people here

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Lol thanks! That's pretty deep background now, but my emphasis on education has been pretty defining in the results that I've had. I consider my MBA to be an invaluable experience, but I use the knowledge that I built up independently almost as much as what I learned in school or "on the job".

When I'm thinking about any educational resource, I ignore the financial cost entirely and focus on whether I will actually use it (time is a precious commodity). If I think I will use it, then it usually pays for itself.

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Damn, what a story! :D
You have had some nice positions. There were a time where I also wanted to be a stockbroker but that changed :D

My investments are boring and slow, since I cant put much money into it, but I learn patience from that.

I did pay for my Life Coaching education and want to work as a life coach in the future on my own, but this whole covid stuff have not made it any easier to start a business x)

But at somepoint it will happen!!

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Is that something that you can start out virtually? Maybe start building some interest via blogging? Or is that something that you're already working toward in your blogging?

I worked with a life coach a few years ago and found it pretty helpful but I did not stick with it after my first baby was born,

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Ye I could and I am open for that, I can also see people in person, but that might not be ideal.
My biggest problem is that I am unemployed at the moment and because of our rules, I ofcouse cant start a company unless I transfer to another form of unemployment.

I will rather just get a job and then start the company in the evenings or in the weekends.

I do already have a homepage, facebook, Instagram and Hive account ^^ I also did post on face and insta + a bit on hive. Now, I got a bit stressed out trying to produce some content every single day. That route is not fun for me, so I would rather pay for advertisment when I get a job.

So everything is a bit still at the moment, but I am not giving up :D
I do also have a coach myself which is helping ^^

Ohh damn, ye understandable. Ones prioities will change when you get a new born :D

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Ah yeah, that's a badly designed system when unemployment prevents you from taking steps to better your financial situation!

At risk of getting political, that's one benefit to ongoing subsistence payments (basic income) that don't require means tests, employment tests, etc. If structured correctly, everyone would get it but it would just be clawed back from anyone that doesn't actually need it, and it could theoretically replace a lot of other programs that create weird disincentives. In the Stockton trials, UBI actually increased employment rates!

It's funny, after my older child was born, I took a big step back from a lot of extra activities and toned down my presence on Hive (Steem at the time), keeping my initiatives running on a slow burn in the background.

With my twins, I've felt like it's time to step up and hit the ground running again. Maybe because I'm feeding five mouths now and not just three? Will be interesting to see if that psychology remains when my paternity leave ends and job stresses increase again.

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Ah yeah, that's a badly designed system when unemployment prevents you from taking steps to better your financial situation!

So I get more than I normally would, but I am also going a bit crazy and with Gyms still being locked down here, I can't really do much xD
So I can make a company while being unemployed but I only have 30 weeks for it to work out and giving me an income to live on and if it fail to give me an income I would have to shut it down and go back on unemployment, thats why I haven't go for it yet x)

In the Stockton trials, UBI actually increased employment rates!

Uh interesting! UBI could be a good thing and we might see it in the future, Elon musk also talks about this.
Have you heard about Bill Ackmans proposal (Bill Ackman: Give Every Child $6,750 So They Retire As Millionaires) - $6750 invested in the stock market and grown over the years before retirement.

It's funny, after my older child was born, I took a big step back from a lot of extra activities and toned down my presence on Hive (Steem at the time), keeping my initiatives running on a slow burn in the background.

Prioities right? :D
Well we are alot who are happy about the HBI (HSBI) initiative :D

With my twins, I've felt like it's time to step up and hit the ground running again. Maybe because I'm feeding five mouths now and not just three? Will be interesting to see if that psychology remains when my paternity leave ends and job stresses increase again.

That might become a motivator haha :D If the job doesn't stress you out, because thats not fun either.

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With my twins, I've felt like it's time to step up and hit the ground running again. Maybe because I'm feeding five mouths now and not just three?

Reminds me of me, now that I'm going to have to start paying rent. Rather be able to self sustain rather than needing to rely on my parents.

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Well said. My comp sci education has been my best investment as well, hands down.

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I think that comp sci would be particularly good preparation for the crypto economy. My brother did comp sci and has no interest in crypto at all, and it completely baffles me!

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That is a strange one although i do know some IT folks who aren't into crypto as well. Rare, though.

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That is awesome. I honestly don't know if I could single my investments down to a single one. If I had to guess it would probably be something with my wife. Something more personal and less material like you are talking about here. I hate being on the phone as well, so I can kind of empathize about that anxiety. I am glad you found something that you love doing!

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I feel like my wife made a big investment in me, but I get to reap all the dividends!

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