Investing isn’t magic. It’s just kind of weird.

For a school where a fair amount of students either come from money or wouldn’t mind making a whole lot of it, we avoid wall street like it’s option covid-testing. (Don’t you dare pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

We pretend investing is this arcane, secretive science that only the rich and their henchmen use. Even the word investing becomes weird. It sounds like an accountant smuggling his boss’s blood diamonds through airport security by stashing them in his vest. But the truth is, investing is just believing in something with your money. You risk your hard-earned dollars (or crypto, but let’s not get into that) by purchasing a sliver of a company’s ownership in hopes that it’ll increase in value. People do it so they might one day retire while their investments create wealth and keep them comfortable.

And you knew that. 

Although the vest situation is still off-putting.

Still, investing is a common practice that gets more effective the earlier you begin. Over half of American households own stocks, and there’s positive correlation between education level and the likelihood of holding investments. The S&P 500 has rallied a dizzying 110% since pandemic lows in March of 2020. That means that if you took the $500 you had made over the summer had invested it at the right time, you would have $1,050—the equivalent of having your salary doubled without an awkward conversation with your manager. Stocks might seem weird, but a 2x multiplier on your hourly wage like it’s mitosis (that’s right, we’re drawing connections) should be incentive enough to at least consider entering the markets.

Further, if you started with an $100 investment and added $50 to it every month, a 10% annual return would give you $100,000 in 30 years. The sooner you start, the more you’ll have.

Whether we like it or not, choosing a career might involve facing how we’d fit our finances with the lifestyle we’d like to live. It would be a real shame to see someone turn away from a job they love because the money wasn’t enough. Beginning to invest now can provide a foundation for financial independence and give you the freedom to choose the career you want later on, and that makes all the difference.

If you still think stocks are weird and complicated, let me appeal to your sense of pride. Just imagine how nice it would feel to be the one kid who knows this weird and complicated science practiced by the rich and their diamond-clutching, vest-clad henchmen. “How terrifying,” they would comment. “How intimidating,” they would say. “I wonder if they wear a lot of vests,” they might wonder. And they wouldn’t know how unnecessary vests are to the world of investing. But you would.

They don’t call the stock market “the greatest wealth creator in the history of mankind” for nothing. Investing is a life skill that takes a little bit of bravery and whole lot of humility. Winchester Thurston’s Investment Club, which meets every Monday and Friday at lunch, is open to all. If you want to begin down this road of financial freedom and knowledge, my email is below. We’re not going to become millionaires overnight, but you’ll have the opportunity to watch your money grow with the picks you made. And that’s pretty magical.

My email is [email protected]

I really hope the market doesn’t crash immediately after I write this piece.