The Journey to Investing: Tori Shares What She’s Learned4 min read

How Investors Get Cheated Out of their Money

In fact, it's been proven again and again that actively managed investments rarely beat the market. That is to say that a collection of balanced investments in a broad selection of the world's largest companies (also known as index funds), no matter what their industry, are more likely to earn you money than a person whose job it is to buy and sell stocks! Just like a slot machine or the lottery, the expert could hit the jackpot, but the chances are extremely low, and probably not worth betting your retirement on.

Not only are these experts no better at making you money than your passively managed index funds, they also cost you a lot more.

How have they gotten away with this? Well, from the investor's standpoint, the various fees they are paying their adviser look small because they are typically represented as fractions of the total amount invested, but, when represented as fractions of the total amount earned, they could be taking as much as 40%! Initiatives to make this process more transparent are underway, but advisers are going to do all they can to hide the truth about fees in the meantime.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

If investing has one foolproof strategy, it's that starting early is always better. Unfortunately, many of us don't have any income we would consider "extra" until at least our mid-twenties if not much later, or ever! Investing is often most alien to the class with the least disposable income, who could use the extra money the most, especially in retirement. Even investing a small amount, especially regular amounts each month, can add up to a lot over time, so no matter how much your responsibilities may be getting in the way, consider investing as a top priority.