Fun fact: 99% of LinkedIn users are salaried employees eagerly climbing the perpetual corporate and social ladder. My guess is you are one of them. I don’t know if you noticed, but there is actually an elevator around the corner.

TikTok, Instagram and YouTube might have described the elevator as a rocket ship built by sturdy and safe get-rich-quick schemes. You’ve probably avoided those tempting click bates and sought out a trustworthy friend or relative in the financial industry for free financial advice. After all, a fisherman should be able to give you pointers about catching fish and a banker should be able to give you some financial advice. One would think.

The comfort of a cushy monthly salary tends to sterilize active value seeking and incentivize wealth preservation. The most likely advice you would receive from your friend that works in the financial industry would be to invest monthly in the S&P500 through a low cost index fund. Historically, a sound strategy. Coincidentally, also advice from Warren Buffet.

But…

1. Warren Buffet did not create his fortune by monthly index investing.

2. If your friend is financially savvy, why is he/she (or she/he) still trapped and perfectly unhappy in a 9-to-5?

If you seek financial advice from a salaried professional in the financial industry, whether you have a friend or client relationship, you should ask about their experience. If your contact is 45+, they better be hereditarily unlucky, in love with their occupation or have an expensive addiction. There is no financial reason for anyone that REALLY understands financial markets to work 25+ years as an employee. But yes, the compounding of wealth takes time and underspending.

I’m not saying monthly investing is a bad idea, nor that life as an employee can not be wonderful. But I think it’s worth figuring out your own financial strategy and consider going independent.

This is not financial advice, just the good kind of unsolicited advice that your parents forgot to give you. You’re welcome.

#monthlysalary #indexinvesting #independent