The Misconceptions of Stocks & General Finance

*I am in no way recommending any particular stocks/investments in this article for anyone - This is just my personal opinion. Please do not act without doing your own research, consulting & deciding your own goals.

What is a stock?

The answers that I have heard people give about what stocks are, range from the enlightening to the down right stupid & dangerous. While many responses don't sound stupid or incorrect at first to the untrained ear, these types of answers are what have given stocks a undeserved bad reputation, because they are incorrect and lead to people getting bitten usually at the worst possible times. Among some answers given include.....

"Take a look, see how the stock went from 5 to 10 dollars? This means it's a good company.  I'm doubling down."

"Look at this thing!! It costs 200 dollars per share!!! It's way too expensive. Trust me buy this winner I heard about from a friend. It costs only 2 dollars, It's WAY cheaper."

"It's gone from 40 dollars to 80 dollars in a year, there's no way it can go higher, sell while you still can before the joyride ends" (For the record: that was back in 2009 & the company in question was Chipotle Mexican Grill - Today a share is worth almost 600.00 per share)

"Stocks are controlled by President Obama, you have no say!! Only he does."

"It's down 50%!!! It's must be going out of business..holy cow....I better just take the loss and wait"

These types of taboos, misinformation, bias, prejudice and just plain fear occur not just in stocks but across all of finance in general. For many households even just talking about money brings an awkward silence or uncomfortable stares at the dinner table. The amount of pain, divorces and death caused from finance is unimaginable. Think about how many times you've heard of a friend or loved one fight about money or get in debt trouble from a totally avoidable situation (obviously excluding medical). You probably lost count thinking about it, now just think how many people in the world are in the same scenario.  Not only have you lost count, but you can't even wrap your head around that amount of people.  Now think about how many people have fought over it for the last 2000 years at the dinner table!! Than just think how many will be in that same scenario in the next 2000.....

I'm not here to tell you you can alter the course at every family dinner table or completely wipe out poverty or something like that. What I am here to tell you is even though you can't solve this problem by yourself, you can still make a HUGE difference in a small way.  By just understanding some basic financial principles, some basic information, along with having a plan & having something to work towards you can make a difference at your table, maybe your parents table, your best friends table, and in turn they can do the same thing to others.

While I will mainly focus on stocks & certain businesses, none of this matters until you get your priorities straight. That means understanding how to make a budget, what's a necessity & a luxury, how to show restraint, having a goal for yourself or someone else or your family. Until you have those items checked off, NOTHING ELSE FINANCIALLY MATTERS!!!!

I'm gonna close just by saying that for many people that are just used to being poor or having no goal, this can be a VERY scary thing at first, to think in such a new way. It always is scary to try new things (like broccoli) but think of all the things in life you would have missed out on if you didn't try them out.

BOTTOM LINE: Find something to work towards & go get it, what that "something" exactly is well... that last one is your problem.