May's Monthly Performance

May’s monthly performance across all our listed investments was +2.85%. YTD (Year to date) performance is positive at +8.71%.

Top 5 company holdings: $BATS, $GSL, $RIO, $SQZ, $INPP.

The REITS income fund has ended the month up +1.93%.

GOLD and SILVER ETC holdings were up +2.36%.

Fund of funds up +2.82%.

Ignorance is a Choice

I believe that ignorance is a choice…

• If you don’t know how a combustion engine works, then that is your choice.

• If you don’t know how your heart pumps blood around your body, then that is your choice.

• If you don’t know that new skill or technology, then that is your choice.

• If you don’t know about business, entrepreneurship, or how to make money with your own business, then that is your choice.

• If you don’t know how to make money investing, then that is your choice.

… I know the truth is uncomfortable, but all those statements are true.

They can be uncomfortable because deep down you know they are true, but it’s easier to blame other people for the reason why you don’t know how to earn more money but the person next to you does, or that you are struggling trying to fix that dodgy bookcase while your friend seems to build all sorts of DIY projects with ease.

It’s so much easier to blame other people that as humans we look to that first. We love trying to identify groups of people to blame for our own failings. As long as we can blame someone else, we can comfort ourselves that our own ignorance isn’t our fault and it’s the fault of others. The political system loves it!

“I’m not fat because I keep shovelling food into my mouth, it’s because of the big food companies and corrupt governments”, “I’m poor because of the evil billionaires”, “I can’t get a high-paid job in technology because of immigration”, the excuses are all good ones and have lots of supporters, but they are, at the end of the day, excuses.

So on the premise that all of the above is true (and I know someone will be on the comments soon complaining that it’s alright for you because of X, Y, Z and the reason I cannot is because of A, B, C but I encourage a healthy debate), let’s get onto the main topic of this month’s update…

The stock market has been going great recently, so inevitably I’ve had many people ask how I've been doing and tell me the usual “well it’s alright for you, you know about investing… I don’t”.

The same sort of thing was said to me when I had my very successful business (EKM.com), which helped tens of thousands of people create their own successful online businesses and earned me the nickname of “The Millionaire Maker” due to helping to create thousands of millionaires in the UK… people would say “well it’s alright for you, you know about business and technology… I don’t”.

It’s as if they believe I was born with the ability to code, use technology, know business and invest.

Of course I wasn’t, I was born in Burnley (a working-class town in the north-west of England) and just found myself interested in such things and because I was interested I learned all about them, I read, read, read and read. I watched, I listened, I did everything possible to learn and have never stopped learning.

Investing-wise I knew nothing about it, absolutely nothing. It’s not the sort of thing taught in schools and to be honest it’s the “sort of thing that’s not for people like me”. The sort of thing you pay someone to manage for you because it’s too complicated and difficult for someone with a strong northern accent like mine.

But in the summer of 2019 I made a conscious effort to learn about investing on the stock market and so started reading investing books, listening to investing podcasts, reading investing magazines, watching investing YouTube channels. In fact, pretty much since the summer of 2019 it’s about all the content I have consumed.

Do I know everything about investing? Hell no! I never will and will always be learning. The same is true of business and all my other interests, I am forever a lifelong student. I love learning.

But the point is that I just decided to learn about it and did. In fact, I earn more money now just me sat on my own investing than I did when I had 88 people working for me with my previous business.

I am a massive believer that you too can learn anything you want. I am proof of that, I have learned technology, business, coding, entrepreneurship, public speaking, design, flying, investing, sailing, video production and many other skills/interests all of which I have been told time and time again that it wouldn’t be possible.

So ignore the nay sayers, the negative nellies, the mood hovers who say you can’t and the reason you can’t is because of group A, B or C or excuses X, Y, Z and get off your backside and start learning that new skill, that new interest.

So go on, whats your excuse?