Hello Grasshoppa,
Have you ever experienced FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out, whenever there are new investment opportunities? I for one felt FOMO when I’ve missed out on the latest investments. I invested in some of it & I did pass many of it as well. This feeling is common not only for investing but also in many aspects of our lives. My FOMO experience happened when I actually “invested” in a crypto scam. That was many years ago while I was still struggling with high debt & money management issues where I was approached by another friend of mine to invest in local Malaysian crypto. I remembered that when he approached me, all I did was just agreeing to it since he was a friend of mine & I trusted him. Another factor is my fear of missing out & wanting to make more money.
The convincing point was also when our former Prime Minister was present during their launch. I was added to their group Whatsapp chat & I remembered having a few famous celebrities & politicians’ wives in that group. Months later, it turns out to be a scam & no one was able to get their money back as they claimed that their money was “locked” by the government. I honestly forgot about this story until I was writing this post since I have an even worst memory of my money management right after that. My estimated loss was at RM2000 if I am not mistaken.
Years later, there are also other investment scams such as JJPTR where most Penangites was scammed & I was also approached to invest but luckily, I was sane enough to make the right decision after I have “upgraded” myself in financial educations. Forget about those scams but let’s look into other investment opportunities that are legal. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoins & others have been in the market for years now. There are many investors that invest in it & are able to earn profit from it. The question is, how much do some investors understand on crypto or are they just investing due to FOMO? Another hot investment in 2020 was when many investors pour their money into glove stocks at the beginning of the pandemic. I am sure many investors are able to earn a lot from it but back to the same question again, how much do they know about the glove company or they are just investing blindly due to FOMO?
These are good examples of how FOMO is able to guide investors to earn but bear in mind, there are some investors that are making a loss too. There is nothing wrong with having FOMO feelings to invest as some investment opportunity may turn out to be a good investment but before you invest, always do your due diligence to make sure you know what are you investing in. Even if you miss the boat & you think that investment opportunity is a good investment, you can always still invest in it & do a Dollar Cost Averaging if you believe that investment opportunity is a long term investment. Like what Warren Buffett used to say, “If You Can’t Hold Stocks For 10 Years, You Shouldn’t Hold It For 10 Minutes”. If you truly believe in it, invest it in a long term & do not follow the trend as most trends are temporary.
You will always find many opportunities out there whether it is a trend or not a trend as long as you keep searching. To find those uncovered opportunities, you need to learn the basics of investment which is as simple as reading a book, blog, YouTube or even attending a Udemy course. Just make sure the source is reliable & never rely on a single source of information. I truly believe that you should only invest when you are ready not out of FOMO. If you are equipped with the right knowledge, you will understand why that investment succeeds or fails & your knowledge will also minimise any possible risk of failing.
OSS!
You can also check out my latest YouTube video on 9 Habits That Will Make You Rich:
