The Gift of Psychological Drive in the Stock Market
The Jewish tribe has an interesting factor that has helped them
become spectacularly financially successful. I call it "the gift
of psychological drive to prove something." The Jewish tribe has
considered itself chosen by God and oppressed by man at the same
time (I contend that every ethnicity has been oppressed by man
at some time or other but that is another story).
How in the heck has this helped the Jewish ethnicity progress
you might ask? Well if you always feel like the underdog you
have two choices. The first is to tuck your tail, give up, and
hide. The other choice is to "toe the line" and work harder than
other ethnicities in areas that are most likely to prove people
wrong like education, professional trades, and as entrepreneurs.
Steven Silbiger in his book "The Jewish Phenomenon" points to
this aspect of the Jewish ethnicity that has allowed Jews to
post spectacular financial and intellectual achievements as
compared to other ethnicities on average.
You can use this psychological secret to your advantage as a
stock market investor. Wall Street wants you to believe that you
cannot (1) manage your own stock investments, (2) cannot pick
your own stocks, and (3) cannot beat at their own game their
"professional money managers." They project this on you because
they want control your money for a hefty fee. You can learn to
"toe the line" by dedicating yourself to an organized path of
personal study in the field of investing. A chip on your
shoulder to prove Wall Street wrong doesn't hurt to motivate you
to study hard.
Study a major area of investing. Examples are Dow dividend
strategies. Momentum strategies, value investing, long term
technical analysis. Some of the better people out there to read
about include, Warren Buffet, George Soros, and William O'Neill.
The key point to remember is to be in a constant state of open
minded joyful study. This allows you to eventually learn most of
what is out there and find just the right investing style for
you. The right style makes the most sense to you and is the most
comfortable way for you to invest based on your psychology.
I personally know of a marine welder who retired a multi
millionaire because he drove himself in his free time to master
his understanding of the stock market. Another example is a
family friend who is now a wealthy and retired beautician who
invested her savings and those of her high school principal
coach husband's in no load mutual funds, the very simplest of al
strategies. They are now retired millionaires as well.
The only thing holding you back from fantastic success in the
stock market is your own beliefs about yourself. Change your
beliefs to an "I can too!" philosophy and you will change your
reality. Today I was buying a bunch of tacos at Taco Bell. The
cashier told me that I should play the state lottery with the
numbers that came up on as the food price total. I looked her
calmly in the eye, smiled, and remarked, "My dear why would I
play the lottery when I have the stock market which truly is a
much surer bet?"
Scott Brown, Ph.D. a.k.a. "The Wallet Doctor" holds a doctorate
in finance from the University of South Carolina and is a
professor of finance at the University of Puerto Rico. Dr. Brown
can teach you how saving the daily price of a cup of coffee at
Starbucks can make you a millionaire in the stock market through
long term stock investing. Dr. Brown's website is:
http://www.walletdoctor.com/