{"id":257174,"date":"2025-05-26T00:36:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T00:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/business\/investing\/advice-for-a-young-investor-eat-your-broccoli-kid\/"},"modified":"2025-05-26T00:36:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T00:36:43","slug":"advice-for-a-young-investor-eat-your-broccoli-kid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=257174","title":{"rendered":"Advice for a young investor: Eat your broccoli, kid"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

\"Broccoli\"<\/p>\n

This article was first published in the Globe and Mail<\/a> on March 29, 2025. It is being republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

by Tom Bradley<\/p>\n

I recently met with a friend to talk about investing. He\u2019d just won the Grade 9 investment game at school (bitcoin, bitcoin, and more bitcoin) and was enthusiastic to learn more. He wanted to get started for real.<\/p>\n

I struggle with these conversations because our goals are different. He wants to have fun and get rich, and I want him to learn some basics he can use for the rest of his life. As any parent knows, this is a big valley to bridge.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a dilemma I think about constantly. A book publisher once said to me, \u201cThe problem you have, Tom, is that you\u2019re asking people to eat their broccoli.\u201d In other words, my approach to investing is fundamental and it works, but it\u2019s boring. It pales in comparison to the sizzle of a steak or the crunch of a French fry. It\u2019s not cool doing nothing when everyone else is urgently doing something. And I\u2019m not giving people anything to talk about at a dinner party.<\/p>\n

My new business partner<\/a>, Som Seif, put it more positively than the publisher. He said, \u201cTom, not every successful investor does what you preach, but every investor who does is successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, I need to try a new communication strategy.<\/p>\n

Broccoli<\/h4>\n

Maybe I can build on the broccoli thing. People are really into health these days and broccoli is one of 25 superfoods. Eat it regularly and you\u2019ll be healthier.<\/p>\n

So, I could say you don\u2019t get to have dessert until you\u2019ve eaten your vegetables. Prior to getting started, you must have a plan that includes a clear goal of what you\u2019re trying to achieve, a framework or target asset mix to guide how you allocate your dollars, and an understanding of how unpredictable markets are.<\/p>\n

I like broccoli but it doesn\u2019t seem like this will sell unless I can follow my mother\u2019s lead and smother it with cheese sauce.<\/p>\n

Layups vs. launching threes<\/h4>\n

What about sports analogies? They\u2019re right in my wheelhouse. How about I say investors need to learn layups and bounce passes before they start launching threes? Or golf. They need to develop some scoring skills by learning to chip and putt before whaling on a driver.<\/p>\n

In other words, before opening a brokerage account and trading stocks and options on your phone, you need to know that stocks are driven by profits in the long term and a random array of ever-changing factors in the short term. Stock markets rise over time, and you need to be there when they do. The way to reliably make money is to maximize the time invested. Day trading is, well, like throwing darts blindfolded.<\/p>\n

Yeah, but sinking a three is such a great feeling.<\/p>\n

Bragging rights<\/h4>\n

Maybe I can play to investors\u2019 most visceral emotion \u2013 doing better than their friends and enemies. It fuelled Instagram to great heights. Why can\u2019t it do the same for the ABCs of investing?<\/p>\n

If you take care of the basics and develop a regular routine (make monthly contributions, read the quarterly reports, do a complete review annually), you\u2019ll meet your goals and beat most, if not all, of your colleagues and neighbours. No extensive market knowledge required, nor any insight into whether Telus or RBC is a better buy. In fact, no brilliance necessary at all, just a healthy dollop of discipline.<\/p>\n

And on the way to bragging rights, there\u2019s two added bonuses. You\u2019ll spend far less time on investing, and you\u2019ll ooze confidence when talking about it. You may even be a little smug.<\/p>\n

Well, emotion feels like a better hook than broccoli, but I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m there yet.<\/p>\n

Social hype machine<\/h4>\n

Clearly, I\u2019ve got to penetrate the social media machine. To do that, I need to create some buzz, hype even. Perhaps I can recast the basics in terms of what people are used to seeing and clicking on.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • \n
    \nYou\u2019ll triple your money.\u00a0<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • You\u2019re guaranteed to never miss a bull market.\u00a0<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • You\u2019ll achieve your goals and have financial flexibility in retirement.\u00a0<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • You\u2019ll do better than your obnoxious brother-in-law who follows the market and talks a big game.\u00a0<\/li>\n

    <\/p>\n

  • You\u2019ll have time to read five more books each year.
    \n \n<\/li>\n

    \n <\/ul>\n

    Now I\u2019m getting somewhere but unfortunately, I\u2019m meeting with my young friend again next week. I guess I\u2019ll just tell him, \u201cEat your broccoli, kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n

    We’re not a bank.<\/h2>\n

    Which means we don’t have to communicate like one (phew!). Sign up for our Newsletter and Blog and join the thousands of other Canadians who appreciate the straight goods on investing.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    \n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":257175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96],"tags":[11282,31319,10009,13177,1166,4961],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-257174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-advice","tag-broccoli","tag-eat","tag-investor","tag-kid","tag-young"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvice for a young investor: Eat your broccoli, kid - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=257174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advice for a young investor: Eat your broccoli, kid - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article was first published in the Globe and Mail on March 29, 2025. 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