Why do most people fail or lose money?

We heard stories of people losing ALL of their savings in the stock market. Or maybe some would have friends and relatives losing money to a point whereby they would just give up on investing. First and foremost, i'm not a stock guru but i would like to point out that for those who lost money or ENTIRE fortunes in the market, it shows a lack of understanding and work done.


For every sport, you need to condition yourself - body and mind. Do you think athletes like Usain Bolt can be the fastest man alive without hard work? Or Christiano Ronaldo/Lionel Messi - multiple Ballon d'or winners without perseverance and skill? I agree that talent plays a part but if you know you aren't talented enough, you can compensate and narrow the gap through hard work.

I'm not talking about how to profit from the market now but rather how proper work and due diligence must be done before you can even start to put your hard earned money into the market. The market is a place whereby it lacks compassion and it doesn't care if you made or lose millions. All it does is to provide a platform for people to grow their nest egg in a manner FD's or certain insurance products cant do. To hear or read in the papers that people can go bankrupt due to the market and blaming it, they should take a cold hard look at themselves. Are they greedy? Are they overleveraging? Are they foolish and lazy to not even read up on what they buy? Or are they buying because their "friend" or broker recommended it?

To make money, you got to know how to lose and how much to lose. This serves as a lesson and never to repeat the mistake. There's a saying - fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

You can't find someone who is 100% right and has a 100% track record. The beauty of this game is you can also profit if you're 60%-70% right. In school, we strive to get 90%-100% but now, even 60% is sufficient and of course we also try to get our calls right as much as possible. 

Some might say they do not have the time nor energy after work to read up and evaluate companies. Some do not even read the papers or daily news. How does one even expect to get a decent yield on their investments? Investing is a battle of wits, cunning, sweat, tears, hard work and sometimes even blood.

Reading expands your knowledge and widens your perspective. To profit from tips is a degrading form of investment and shows a lack of respect to the market. How many times can a tip save you? Mr. Market is relentless and doesn't sleep, he exploits your weakness and try's to break you down mentally in times of crisis. Are you mentally prepared for this roller coaster ride? Are you prepared to roll up your sleeves and do your homework? If the answer is no, then you should not mess around with Mr. Market and let the professionals handle him.

But as my previous post suggests, most professionals just happened to be more educated but weak mentally. They sell on lows and buy on highs - this is what fear and greed does to you. But that's what NORMAL people do isn't it? To be a decent investor, you got to be ABNORMAL and that's when proper homework done helps. 

During a market crash, good stocks get sold down together with the bad stocks and that's when your skills and years of hard work kicks in - to sift out the good from the bad and buy them at discounts! Not calling for a bear market immediately but rather how will you react when it happens? We all know we are in a secular bull since 2009 and markets aren't built to defy gravity. The time will come so do get your shopping list ready and in the meantime, READ READ AND READ!