Building Wealth Millennials are the butt of a joke from time to time...
Every generation likes to give younger ones a hard time. The gripe is that each new generation has it "easier" than the previous because of advances in technology and life quality. This is just the way things have been, spanning back many decades.
For me (Jeff Havenstein), it has been no exception... especially when it comes to my boss, Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig, who is notorious for cracking jokes at the expense of millennials (all in good fun, of course).
While my age group does suffer through the occasional verbal beatdown, we do have an advantage when it comes to investing...
Our holding period is many decades.
When you don't plan to retire for a decade or more, investing shouldn't be hard. You hold the highest-quality stocks and don't even think about selling until retirement age approaches. It's simple.
You can also just buy an S&P 500 Index fund and hold. In nearly all circumstances, you'll grow your nest egg over time.
Even if you bought in at the worst possible time – think back to the peak in the early 2000s – you'll still make good money as long as your holding period is 20 years or more. Just look at how the market has soared since then...
Stocks go up over time. That's why millennials are less worried about buying into a market peak – because we can afford to wait for prices to surge higher.
Of course, a good portion of our readers are either nearing retirement or already in it. Most folks can't afford to just blindly buy the S&P 500 and hope that it's up in a few years.
A 2000- or 2008-like crash can devastate you and set you back many years.
You have to be more conservative later in life... That means being more cognizant of market cycles and staying away from obvious peaks. And it means having more of your portfolio in cash.
Today, folks nearing retirement or in it are faced with tough decisions. It's obvious that stocks are historically expensive, meaning returns over the next several years could be subpar. And a recession could be lurking around the corner, making it even more dangerous to keep your nest egg in stocks.
Also, the 2024 presidential election is coming up fast. Many investors are making decisions purely based off which party they think will win or lose.
While I would never recommend making long-term investing decisions that hinge on the outcome of an election, you can make money trading.
We know for certain that fear will pick up over the next several weeks as Election Day approaches. And that fear will lead to short-term opportunities.
For example, Doc has long talked about how profitable option selling can be during volatility. Folks who are scared pay more for options protection. So you can collect a small fortune by selling options on even the highest-quality stocks.
Option selling is going to be a fantastic moneymaker over the next couple months – regardless of what stage of life you're in.
Our colleague Greg Diamond – editor of the Ten Stock Trader trading advisory – agrees. He believes the election is an opportunity to trade and make fast profits. Specifically, he says a massive market move is set to begin on September 9... and it could spell "lights out" for one of the U.S. presidential candidates. Best of all, this market opportunity could double your money 10 times as it unfolds.
Click here to watch Greg's full presentation and how you can profit through this election.
What We're Reading...
- Something different: U.S. crude oil jumps more than 3% on Libya production halt and amid Israel-Hezbollah attacks.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Jeff Havenstein
August 28, 2024