This topic may be a sensitive one as everyone's situation is a little different.

Full disclaimer - I'm about to contradict my feelings for the sake of trying to build my and my family's future security in this modern corporate world. If you're curious as to what living inside my brain is like - this post may be for you.

The overall bad:

Let's get the elephant out of the room by addressing why I find videos goading people to invest makes me so annoyed. And then later, let's go directly into me reluctantly telling you to invest.

ML, why are you so sensitive about this?

Listen, here's the real. When it comes to investing -- nothing bothers me more than the mindset of "You're keeping yourself poor!" For one - it's a bit harsh. Second, the premise relies solely on the person being able to have left over to even invest in the first place.

Don't yell at me, please.

I find that a lot of people who tell you to invest are often very animated about it. (And I get that - my favorite politicians often come across as very angry and I'm kinda into that for politics. Anyways...) I find that people who love investing are incredibly excited about investing, what that could've done for them, and what it could possibly do for you. HOWEVER. Unless you get your jollies by being yelled at about money (again - no shaming here), it just isn't a delivery that sticks for me.

Of course, this comes down to the type of person you are and how you like information presented to you. For me, I like being calmly told:

• Do you have this problem? (Could ya use some more monies?)
• Are you doing this solution yet? (Are ya investing, son?)
• Why you should be taking these steps. (Investing typically gives you better yields than normal savings accounts - invest pls.)
• Here's how to properly engage. (These are the proper steps to investing.)
• Here are the possible risks & popular myths. (1. It's not foolproof. 2. You don't typically get loads of monies overnight even though that would be really awesome. 3) You could possibly lose money before you see a return depending on market conditions. Finally: 4. Hey - I'm not trying to sell you snake oil so think about this carefully.)

Of course, this type of content out there exists. However, a majority of what I see online has the underlying feeling of "I did this thing and you're keeping yourself poor if you're not listening to me." Again, I get it since this type of confident demeanor conveys that the creator knows what they're talking about. Heck, they may really be incredibly well-off because of said tips. However, again, this is a critique of delivery.

Back in my day...

So this brings us back to the question above: "So ML - why are you so sensitive about this?"

I'll tell you - I remember growing up and living paycheck to paycheck. I have very clear memories of receiving reduced & free school lunches, being on government-assisted healthcare, and barely having enough to even cover the basics. On top of that, I have family abroad and we were fortunate in their eyes - and would often send money home to help relatives who couldn't even eat.

Finance is something that hits very close to home for me. I still have family members who don't have enough to eat and it's absolutely heartbreaking. It's hard for me to look at someone (or even a camera - knowing that there could possibly be someone on the other side) and tell them "If you're not listening to my tips and tricks, you're keeping yourself poor."

Coming from a collectivistic culture, the Western world's individualistic way of life is oftentimes at odds with what I learned and internalized. Suppose someone is making poor financial decisions by doing x, y, z -- it's hard for me to be like "they're taking advantage of you by asking you to send them money" or "hey you, you're keeping yourself poor!" I understand tough love - I get it completely. Do kindly remember that I'm somewhat of a bridge between the two styles. However, people who are in poverty have enough going on in their lives without feeling berated (even if that's not the intention).

The reality

With the above stated - you really should invest if you can.

How I started

When I was in my early 20s, I was self-employed. During this time and through my mid-twenties, I attended graduate school for clinical psychology. My life was planned out:

1. Go to school.
2. Become a doctor.
3. Offer my services for free to those who can't afford them in my home country.
4. Die old, happy, and fulfilled.

Well, making a dream a reality is hard work. A lot of things ended up not panning out the exact way I hoped. Somewhere along the way, my plan changed.

My life's outlook

I was a contractor and didn't receive benefits for years. I didn't super mind it since I was in school for a good portion of my time with that company. I was grateful to have an income at all. Mainly, I was living at home and not spending much money anyway so I had enough to get me by. (Keywords: enough to get me by.) I started to look into the future and reflect upon my own goals during my internship.

Unfortunately, if I continued down the same path that I was, I was never going to have enough money to take care of myself and my loved ones.

Then, the entire world was shaken up.

COVID

Due to the pandemic, people were losing their jobs left and right - and even worse, passing away left and right. There was a lot of loss and pain. Both of my parents are a little older and have underlying conditions, and my mother was a front-line worker. I was on edge the entire time.

My mother's work offered furloughs and my mom decided to keep working because "ML, we need the money." I told her I still had a job (fortunately) and that I could take care of us. We knew this was well-intentioned, but was it super realistic? Not only did I not have benefits, but we were still paying off the mortgage, etc. The truth was that it wasn't realistic and I knew things had to change.

Fast forward a few months into the pandemic, I finished my paper (it was around 50 pages - ooof). I couldn't attend my graduation, and my practicum site did not have jobs that paid very well. I knew that I didn't want to continue the psychology path at this time due to the barriers to entry (such as thousands of hours in practicum, a certain amount of supervision hours, and passing the licensing exam before I could even make decent money).

Flipping the switch

I started actually contributing more to the retirement accounts I had already created with any penny I could. I kid you not, I think I was contributing around 5, 10, and 50 dollars whenever I could. It wouldn't be every month but it was something.

I had to relearn the basics of investing so that I could take it more seriously. I began dedicating my free time to learning more about the importance of investing.

Creating a plan forward

I sat down and created a 5-year plan.

Truth be told, the plan was about every single facet of my life - not just my financial future. However, having more money could help some of those other goals I had. I spent days on the plan perfecting it and really digging deep to jot down the good, bad, and the in-between.

Then, I created a mental list of what needed to happen first - and that to me was finding a new job.

Lots to be thankful for

Fast forward to several months later, I found a new job that paid me better and actually had benefits. I began contributing as much as I feasibly could - taking advantage of something super-nifty - called an employer match. I had never had a job that allowed me to do that before. My gosh, I was stoked.

I really lucked out because my employer matches 50% up to x amount. As the numbers began to rise, and I could actually afford to pay more bills for my elderly parents, it became more of a game to watch that number move each paycheck and each month.

Gentle guidance along the way

I started speaking to colleagues at my new job who knew more than me about investing and money hacks. While they had more financial stability and experience than me, they were very understanding of who I was - and how I got to where I am.

I spoke with them more and gathered more of their gentle guidance. Just through basic conversations with them, I learned more and more. It clicked that if I'm not investing, I'm literally missing out on free money. I became determined to invest more.

Of course, there was a lot of reluctance about just shoring your money away to somewhere you don't know/can't use right away. It wasn't something I was very used to. However, I had to trust the process. When the market goes down, it will come up.

Here endeth the lesson

If nothing else, even if you scrolled all the way down (no offense taken) - please take away this key point.

If you have any money at all after your necessities (rent/mortgage, utilities, groceries, transportation, etc.) and padding your savings, investing the left-over can be a good choice if you don't need the money right away.