Money Musings: đź’ do you ever have investing FOMO?
Do you ever have investing FOMO?
It happens to me when a friend (or even someone I’m following on Instagram) shares that they just became a Bitcoin millionaire or made millions of dollars investing in Tesla.
I get to thinking "what if…" and "why didn’t I do that?"
Anyone else?
BUT the truth is, those stories are the exception, not the rule. People tend to be a lot quieter about their losses than their wins and that can paint a really deceiving picture.
The news prefers extremes. The quick millionaire stories get a lot more airtime than more common, less exciting stories.
Imagine this headline…. "The majority of active investors barely end up breaking even after years and years of investing. "
Or even the story of the same Bitcoin millionaire, slowly dwindling it away with other investments.
In my interview with Julien and Kiersten Saunders of rich & REGULAR they warned about these flashy "win big" stories.
They shared, "Many more people have lost a lot of money this way. The far more helpful story is the one where someone saves and invests for 10 years and is able to retire comfortably. It’s less sexy but it’s real and it’s something people can replicate."
Yep! đź’Ż
So let’s all come back to this the next time we have investing FOMO.
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MONEY MOVE OF THE WEEK
CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR IRA BEFORE THE TAX DEADLINE.
Even though we’re well into 2022, you can still make 2021 contributions to your IRA (Individual Retirement Account) up until the filing deadline on April 18.
The max you can contribute to your IRA in 2021 is $6K (or $7K if you’re over 50 years old). Not sure if you should contribute to a Traditional or Roth IRA? Learn more about it here. I also cover it in more detail in Financial Adulting!
If you can’t contribute as much as you want this year, do what you can, and then start setting aside money every paycheck for IRA contributions for 2022. For example, if you’d like to max out your IRA in 2022, you would want to contribute $500 per month ($6,000/12) or $230 per paycheck if you’re paid every 2 weeks ($6,000/26).
YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
A ROUNDUP OF TAX RESOURCES.
In honor of the upcoming tax filing deadline, we want to highlight some tax-related resources. If you are looking to minimize your bill, prepare your taxes, and plan for next year, we have you covered. Here are our favorite tax resources to make this tax season as easy and stress-free as possible.
If you missed it, we had a tax prep Q&A with Kelli and Keila, accountants and the founders of Accountants of Color. In this free Q&A, they answer the following questions:
When and how to hire an accountant vs. do your taxes yourself
Tax jargon and important definitions
Common tax deductions and tax credits (to minimize what you pay)
Maintaining tax records
You can watch the recording here.