Did you know that THE famous Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor worth over $100 billion today, started investing with a little over $100 when he was 11 years old?
Warren Buffett started investing at the age of 11. After investing his first $100, he didn’t stop there. He consistently invested the money he made from the businesses he started in school.
It took Warren Buffett 19 years of investing before he made his 1st million dollars and another FIFTY years for him to go from a million to billion dollars!
Even the people who made billions from investing in Bitcoin, the Winklevoss brothers, it took them over 5 years for that investment to pay off to the point of becoming billionaires.
One common thread across the stories of most wealthy people who got rich from investing is, it takes time and patience. Even now, in the unprecedented times, we live in where it seems like the average person can go from $100 to millions in a few Crypto or NFT plays, having patience can be the difference between $1,000 profit and $10,000 profit.
Time is such a key asset to have when it comes to investing.
So, what are some reasons why you may not be rich yet?
1. You don’t stay invested. You take out of your investment every now and then to settle emergencies or have a good time. We know, enjoy life, problem no dey finish. But those little withdrawals here and there from your investment are preventing your money from having the time it needs to grow.
2. You need to earn more to invest more. While it is great to start investing from where you are and work your way up, Warren Buffett did not become a billionaire from his $100 investment alone. He started businesses where he earned more money so he could have more to pour into his investments. A 10% profit of $1,000 is $100, which is good. But the same 10% on $1,000,000 is $100,000, which is a great annual salary. The more you can invest, the more your returns become meaningful. This is not to say that you should not invest if you don’t have money, but rather while you are investing the little you have, also learn skills, and explore opportunities that can improve your earning potential. Not just so you can live a more comfortable lifestyle, you can also have more money working for you.
3. And if all the previous reasons don’t apply to you, then you probably just need to give it time. Wealth is built over time. Every rich person you can think of did not become rich overnight. It took years, decades of consistent investing to achieve their wealth. Be patient. It takes time
Jeff Bezos once asked Warren Buffett, “Why doesn’t everyone just copy your investment strategy?” Buffett responded quite aptly, “Because nobody wants to get rich slowly. Everybody wants to get rich very quickly these days. However, success in the stock market is built slowly. You have to be patient but also constant in your choices.”
Warren Buffett’s primary investment vehicle is the stock market, but the same principle applies to every other investment. Nobody wants to get rich slowly, so they chase after get rich quick schemes. And get rich quick schemes rarely succeed in getting people rich. Instead, they make people lose valuable time and money they could have invested in slow, steady investments, which can get them rich when given time!
If you jump up, you will come down. But if you grow up, you stay up.