Last updated, March 2023.

My lessons learned, over the years.

Not financial advice, only financial wisdom.

- Inflation is real. Diversify your funds.
- You don't need life insurance if you have no dependencies.
- Make sure the basics such as accident or hospitalization insurance at covered before taking on more risky stuff.
- Do not expect life changing things to happen when investing, unless you are willing to exchange it for life changing trades.
- Establish if you are a trend follower or contrarian. Stick to it.
- Before investing, make sure there is a consistent cashflow already for your daily needs, i.e. employment.
- Avoid getting in and out of trades too frequently. The fees add up for day or swing trading.
- The most profitable trades are always those for the long term.
- The markets generally go up historically. Be patient.
- Learn basic technical analysis to time your buys and sells.
- Indicators like bolliger bands, moving averages, MACD, and other indicators are not 100%, but it can still give you an edge of when things are overbought or oversold.
- Indicators generally give the same information. The only variables are the period of days.
- If using a robo investor or buying ETFs, find out the exact funds/indices/stocks that they aggregate.
- Stay out of options or 50/50 chances. It is gambling.
- Do not use leverage. That 10x can go in your favor, or your margin call could also be 10x quicker.
- Investing is not gambling. It is following a consistent system, sticking to it and do not driven by emotions.
- Be willing to lose 100% of what you have put in.
- Do not borrow to invest.
- If you have realized losses, stop everything and ensure consistent cashflow to deal with debt. Seek help.
- Do not buy because of FOMO or when the markets are too crowded.
- Always make sure the fundamentals are sound. Otherwise you are just speculating.
- Sell when everyday people are buying, when mainstream news starts reporting hype.
- Buy when the market is quiet, boring, or when everyone is upset.
- By the time the news reports it, you have likely already missed the opportunity to profit.
- Always compare spreads with different sellers.
- Gold/silver bullions come with an extremely high spread. Don't expect to profit from it in the short term.
- Candlestick patterns are generally not trustworthy, with the exception of strongly obvious bullish/bearish engulfing patterns and dojis on weekly/monthly timeframes.
- Prioritize joy, happiness and health over wealth. The markets will not be by the hospital bedside giving comfort.
- Accept that financial manipulation occurs. There are political and influencial forces at work that also time the charts.
- Do not hodl forever. Market cycles are real, crashes will happen very quickly, and are often just waiting for catalysts to trigger.
- Always re-invest to compound whenever possible.
- Do not 'wish' that you bought or sold earlier. Come to terms with reality asap.
- There will always be a future opportunity.
- Buying the dip only works in a bull market.
- Avoid liquidity pools, because retail folks likeus are depended on to fund exit liquidity for whales and market makers.
- Always consider long term perspective from the monthly chart, to see whether you're in a bull or bear market, or just a part of a long term consolidation.
- Set a target to stop investing. You only need enough money for your loved ones to survive, and to live long enough for your own funeral.
- Control your emotions. You have to care enough about money, to not care about it.
- Every underlying investment is always a long/short human nature. As long as greed and fear exists, there is money to be made.