What’s a retail investor? An enigma. In recent years, captivated by the rise of individual traders, the media and financial institutions have tried to chronicle Main Street’s market moves — mostly its misadventures.

In recent years, we’ve seen countless monuments to delusion posted online by the retail crowd — often featuring financial loss and wasted time. These have painted retail as a sneer-worthy, chronically online bunch: lacking in sophistication, engaging in moronic gambling behavior out of a sense of financial nihilism.

But individual investors are diverse and capable. For all the negative stories, there are still positive ones — and a handful of experienced traders, almost indistinguishable from soothsayers, on the cutting edge of the market.

One of the most common questions we get at The Joe is: “How should I invest?” The answer is simple — just not always exciting.

Where retail goes wrong: Many people care too much about returns, too little about savings, and almost nothing about where to put their money. If you want to be wealthy or successful, take the layups. Influencer culture and ‘get rich quick’ schemes have too many Americans (particularly young men) skipping the basics, trying to reinvent the wheel by putting their last $30 into crypto or YOLOing crumbs on 0DTE options in their brokerage account. In pursuit of insane returns, they’re often making a huge miscalculation — wasting time, money, and energy. Everyone wants a hot tip — but if you’re serious about building wealth, these moves matter:

• Getting your ducks in a row: A quality education, securing a job, and investing in yourself and relationships are the prerequisites to becoming wealthy.
• Focus on your tax bill first, not your portfolio: Make the most of qualified accounts like your 401(k), IRA, or HSA, focusing on passive, low-cost strategies.

This Is What Matters

You can put $23K in a 401(k) this year, $7K in an IRA, and a variable amount into other accounts like an HSA. If you haven’t put a dent in that total — or prioritized low-cost, passive ETFs and mutual funds — then you’re likely leaving tax-advantaged growth on the table.

• Workers eligible for employer match can lose out on thousands of dollars in extra contributions per year by skipping their 401(k).
• The problem’s even worse if you’re missing out on workplace benefits like an HSA or FSA, which could unlock even more tax advantages.

Then what? There’s a popular belief that wealth comes down to luck. But it doesn’t have to. Do yourself a favor and focus on the tried and true, use the tax breaks, and build a strong foundation — you’ll be in a better place because of it. And when you clear the bars, do what you want: buy individual stocks or crypto if you want; who cares. Just don’t get it mixed up; the surer thing is probably better than whatever’s hot on TikTok.