Fear of investing in stocks and shares

The fear of investing in stocks and shares is real.  In 2000 I had saved more than £7,000 through work and side-hustles.  I was so proud of myself.  I wanted to buy a house.  I spoke to my Dad about this and he said "let's talk to my financial advisor about stocks and shares instead".  The advisor arrived at our house in a fancy soft top car and talked about technology stocks and their potential. 

I used to be petrified of investing in the stock market

My Dad and the advisor convinced me to invest my life savings into a high tech, high growth managed fund inside an ISA.  

Within months the dot com bubble burst and my life savings went from £7,000 to £1,200.  I lost 83% of my life's savings.  By 2005 it had recovered to £1,400 and I sold it all off to go and volunteer in Costa Rica.

This one incident scared me off investing for 15 years.  

Now, 21 years after that first bad investment, 79% of my net-worth is in stocks and shares and once we sell off our investment properties that number will rise to 95%.  What changed?  How did I go from petrified of investing, saying I would NEVER invest in stocks and shares again to being the biggest advocate for them?

This article is designed to help you have more confidence when starting to invest. 

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