Chapter 21 [Ignorance]

Source:https://www.facebook.com/100063294665283/posts/553841836735634/

[James: Origins and Today] Chapter 21 - Ignorance (03/30/2023)

My earliest investment can be traced back to when I first joined Acer. At that time, Acer was preparing to go public. Our employees who had worked for more than one year could subscribe for 2,000 shares at $10 (or $12, I forgot about it!) NT$ per share. Later, the company’s stock market began to rise. Finally, because I wanted to buy the cheapest car (NISSAN SUNNY $220,000 NT$), the stock price rose to $110, so I sold the stock and bought a car.

Of course, looking back now, if I could have invested NT$220,000 in an index fund, based on the current value, I would have spent nearly NT$6 million today to buy a not-so-good car. Therefore, young people should delay consumption and save money for investment instead of consumption, so as to create more wealth for their future. Of course, this does not mean that everyone should live frugally, but delaying consumption will indeed help you live a better future and gain wealth and freedom earlier.

When I arrived in the United States in 2003, I started to know about investing. I bought two funds at the beginning, and calculated how much the funds rose and fell every day. I watched the rise and fall of the funds every day. Although they only rose by a few dozen yuan a day, I watched them with relish. I knew the funds made money, but I felt that the fund returns were too poor. After holding it for a year, I started to buy individual stocks.

After that, I started buying individual stocks. I initially bought ESST, a high-tech stock I was familiar with, because we had a cooperative relationship with this company. The result was buying and selling, and sometimes people even used public phone keys to place orders outside (there was no Internet ordering at that time, and there were no mobile phones, only landline phones and public phone keypads to place orders).

In my impression, the initial order fee was $49.99. For investors like us with small funds, the fee was really scary. But I thought, since we would make money anyway, the handling fee would be nothing. Now that I think about it, I know that I was ignorant.

Although I am ignorant, I discuss stocks with my colleagues every day, and even a colleague from the accounting department will come and ask me about stocks. One time he came and asked if he could buy TSMC TSM.