Okay, let me set the scene: It’s 2021. I’m sitting in a café watching my oat milk latte cost €5.50 while my life savings earn 0.02% interest. My bank account and I had the kind of relationship where we avoided eye contact. Sound familiar?
Here’s the tea ☕: I used to think investing was for Wolf of Wall Street types or people who ate avocado toast ironically. Then I discovered my €10,000 “safety net” had lost 8% of its purchasing power to inflation over three years. That’s like buying a Celine belt bag and watching it morph into a thrift store clutch. Not cute.
The Wake-Up Call
I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole one night (RIP productivity) and learned something wild: If 25-year-old me invested €200/month at 7% returns, I’d have over €500K by 55. My savings account? Maybe €72K… if I stopped buying scented candles. This math isn’t hypothetical – it’s compound interest, baby. Albert Einstein called it the 8th wonder of the world, and honestly? Mood.
My “Oh Sht” Realization
Three myths I had to unlearn:
1️⃣ “Investing = gambling” → Nope. Putting €50 in a globally diversified ETF is not the same as betting on crypto llamas.
2️⃣ “You need thousands to start” → Apps let you begin with €5. That’s literally one fewer cocktail per month.
3️⃣ “It’s too complicated” → Honey, I once Googled “how to adult” at 3 AM. If I can learn, so can you.
The Naked Truth About Risk
Yes, the stock market crashes. But here’s what no one shows on Instagram: From 1980-2020, if you missed the 30 best trading days by trying to time the market, your returns dropped from 7.9% to… 1.8%. Staying invested matters more than being psychic.
How I Dipped My Toes In
1. Automated €50/month into a robo-advisor (think “set it and forget it” for investing)
2. Chose low-cost index funds – like buying the entire bakery instead of guessing which croissant will rise
3. Ignored the noise – deleted stock ticker apps to avoid becoming that girl refreshing charts during work meetings
Eighteen months later? That €50/month snowballed into €1,100. Not life-changing money, but proof the system works. The real win? I stopped seeing money as this ominous adulting test and started viewing it as a tool I could actually use.
Your Turn (But No Pressure)
Start smaller than you think. Track one spending leak this week (looking at you, €4 daily matcha). Use a compound interest calculator – it’s dopamine in spreadsheet form. Most importantly? Forgive yourself for not starting sooner. We’ve all been busy surviving a pandemic while perfecting banana bread, okay?
