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Three lessons I’ve learned after investing for myself

Darcy Paterson

May 12, 2021  
Advice

If you’re thinking of doing your own investing, then here’s a few things I’d suggest you do.

One, start small.

You don’t need to invest large amounts of cash. Small amounts work just fine. You’re going to make mistakes and those mistakes will result in you losing money. That’s just how it goes with investing. Starting small insulates you from losing too much money in the beginning.

Two, always be learning.

I’m always looking for ways to expand my knowledge when it comes to investing. One Up on Wall Street was a great introduction into doing my own investing. However, I’ve looked at how other investors do it as well and learned a lot as a result. If I had just stuck to Peter Lynch’s book, I would never have learned about the importance of compounding as underscored by value investors like Warren Buffett.

Three, fight the urge to find a needle in the haystack.

When I first started I had a romantic idea that to make it big I had to find an unknown small company that would turn into a well known huge company. With experience I began to see that some of the best investments are with well known established companies. More often than not, the needles stay small or disappear.