Investing Doesn’t Work—Or Does It?
How many times have you heard someone say, “Investing doesn’t work—it’s just a gamble!” or “Only the wealthy make money in the market.”? Maybe you’ve even felt the frustration of watching your investments drop in value, leaving you wondering if it’s all just a losing game.
But what if the problem isn’t the market—it’s the way people approach it? Many investors make the same critical mistakes: jumping in at the wrong time, using the wrong strategy, panicking when prices drop, or failing to stay in the market long enough to see real growth. These aren’t flaws in investing itself—they’re errors in execution.
In this article, we’ll break down the biggest myths about investing and reveal the real reasons people lose money—including misunderstandings about market timing, leverage, compounding, and investment cycles. If you’ve ever doubted whether investing can truly build wealth, keep reading—you might just change your mind.
Table of Contents
- The Four Investment Markets
- Leverage Your Way to Wealth
- Compounding Your Way to Success
- Know the Investment Cycles
- Final Thoughts: Why Investing Works—If You Do It Right
The Four Investment Markets
Investing spans four key categories:
- Business
- Property
- Digital assets (such as shares and cryptocurrency)
- Commodities (such as gold and silver)
When I refer to “markets,” I’m talking about the economic dynamics within each of these categories—how they move, interact, and create opportunities.
Why Starting a Business is the First Investment
Most people don’t consider starting a business as an investment—but it’s actually the most important one you’ll make. A business provides not just income, but also the foundation for funding an investment strategy. More than that, it teaches essential skills: managing money, understanding market trends, and legally reducing taxes.
Here’s how a business strengthens your investments:
- Share Market: Business expenses can be deducted from profits, lowering taxable income.
- Property Market: Owning a business opens up strategic opportunities, such as structuring a property holding company, a management company, or a maintenance business—all of which allow costs to be offset against profits.
- Crypto, Gold & Silver: These assets can be added to a business balance sheet, offering tax benefits and wealth protection.
A business is more than just a source of income—it’s a training ground for financial discipline. Without it, many investors make costly mistakes, mismanage money, or fail to understand tax implications. That’s why the first lesson I teach new investors is to start an online business. It’s the best way to learn how to earn, manage, and protect wealth before scaling into larger investments.
A business isn’t just a career—it’s the first step to building lasting wealth.
Leverage Your Way to Wealth
One of the biggest misconceptions about leverage is that it only applies to property—specifically, putting down a deposit and spending the next 25 years paying off a mortgage. In reality, leverage is a powerful investment strategy that applies to most asset classes. The more you understand how to use leverage effectively, the faster you can generate wealth.
Here are some key ways leverage can be applied across different markets:
- Property Options: There are various property investment strategies that reduce or eliminate the need for large deposits, allowing beginner investors to enter the market with little or no money.
- Share Market: With a trading account, investors can use options strategies like puts and calls to control shares without fully purchasing them, effectively leveraging their capital.
- Cryptocurrency: Crypto lending platforms allow investors to borrow against their holdings, enabling them to acquire more assets while still maintaining their existing portfolio.
- Gold & Precious Metals: Gold can be leveraged through financial instruments like margin trading, futures contracts, and peer-to-peer lending, turning it into a dynamic investment rather than just a store of value.
- Velocity Banking: This strategy leverages credit facilities—such as overdrafts and credit cards—to accelerate mortgage repayment, reducing interest costs and freeing up capital faster.
The idea that property is the only asset that can be leveraged is simply outdated. By mastering leverage across multiple asset classes, investors can multiply their wealth at a much faster rate than traditional buy-and-hold strategies. The key is knowing how and when to apply leverage effectively to maximize returns while managing risk.
Compounding Your Way to Success
Albert Einstein famously called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world—yet, despite its reputation, many investors misunderstand how to use it effectively. While most claim to grasp the concept, few truly put it into practice. When properly applied, compounding isn’t just a financial strategy—it’s a powerful tool for success in all areas of life.
At its core, the compounding effect is an investment vs. time strategy. It works exceptionally well when combined with Price Cost Averaging (PCA)—a method of consistently investing a fixed amount at regular intervals. Together, these strategies create exponential growth. Here’s how:
- Dividend Stocks: Investing in monthly dividend-paying shares using PCA—buying new shares each month and reinvesting dividends—can lead to an average capital growth of 5%. Dividend reinvestment alone can increase total returns by roughly 1% above the quoted yield over 12 months.
- Market Stability: Regular investing smooths out market fluctuations, allowing investors to take advantage of lower prices in downturns. Instead of panicking when stock prices drop, think of it as a sale—buy more rather than selling in fear.
- Crypto Strategy: Similar to dividend investing, applying PCA to cryptocurrency by investing weekly rather than monthly often yields even better returns due to market volatility.
A compounding effect chart typically shows slow growth at the beginning, but over time, it accelerates dramatically, forming a hockey stick-shaped curve. Many investors give up too early, claiming that investing doesn’t work. The truth? Most failures stem from panic selling rather than staying the course and letting compounding do its job. Those who persist, reinvest, and buy more during downturns ultimately reap the rewards of exponential growth.
Know the Investment Cycles
Every market moves through cycles of rising and falling values—yet few investors recognize the predictable patterns behind these movements. Understanding investment cycles is key to timing your market entry, ensuring you buy low and sell high.
Each market follows its own cycle, influenced by economic conditions and government policies. For example:
- Business Investment Cycles: In the UK, recessions tend to occur roughly every 10 years. While some businesses struggle during downturns, others thrive and experience boom periods.
- Property Market Cycles: Typically follow a 9–10 year cycle, with predictable peaks and corrections.
- Cryptocurrency Market Cycles: Operate on a shorter 4-year cycle, largely driven by Bitcoin halvings and investor sentiment.
One of the biggest mistakes investors make is jumping in at the peak when prices are high—often driven by FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)—and then panic selling when prices drop. This behavior is driven by two destructive mindsets: fear (I don’t want to miss out!) and greed (I need to cash in now!).
Smart investors understand that markets move in cycles. Instead of chasing trends, they analyze market positioning, identify opportunities, and apply a Price Cost Averaging (PCA) strategy, investing gradually over time rather than going all-in at once. This approach not only reduces risk but also increases long-term profitability by capitalizing on market fluctuations.
To build wealth, you don’t need to predict the future—you just need to understand the cycles and position yourself strategically.
Final Thoughts: Why Investing Works—If You Do It Right
The idea that “investing doesn’t work” is a myth—one that keeps too many people from building real wealth. As we’ve seen, the key to successful investing isn’t luck or being born rich—it’s understanding the rules of the game. Those who fail often do so because they panic, misunderstand market cycles, misuse leverage, or don’t stay invested long enough to see the compounding effect take hold.
The truth? Wealth-building is a strategy, not a gamble. When you approach investing with the right knowledge—leveraging business income, applying compounding and PCA strategies, and timing your investments based on market cycles—you shift from hoping for wealth to actively creating it.
But learning these strategies on your own can be overwhelming, and that’s why I created Zero to Millionaire (Building Wealth)—a membership designed to take you from a beginner investor to mastering wealth-building strategies. Inside, you’ll get step-by-step guidance on how to:
– Build income streams that fund your investments
– Use investment cycles to buy at the right time
– Leverage assets to multiply your wealth
– Apply compounding and PCA strategies for exponential growth
– Avoid common investing mistakes that cost people money
If you’re serious about breaking free from the cycle of uncertainty and stepping into financial confidence, Zero to Millionaire gives you the blueprint. You don’t need to be a financial expert—you just need the right strategy, and I’ll show you exactly how to put it into action.
Are you ready to take control of your financial future? Join Zero to Millionaire today and start building lasting wealth the right way.