Six investing myths debunked

1. Investing is just gambling

This might just be the first thing people who don’t invest will tell you. However, this could not be further from the truth. Simply put: it’s not about the odds. By definition, gambling is taking risky action in the hope of a desired result. Based on this, our statement might actually sound like the truth. The part that many miss is that the level of risk taken is not specified. Investing will always carry a risk, ranging from very low to extremely high. If you are a long-term investor, you may prefer low risk, whereas if you seek high, short-term returns, you might take a riskier approach. Make sure you choose a path that leads to your goals, and learn how to budget for investing. On this note, we also want to quickly explain the difference between investing and trading. They are sometimes confused: while investing refers to having a long-term strategy, trading can, in fact, be seen as betting and often involves high-risk strategies.

2. If I invest, I will either become a millionaire or go broke

Absolutely not, even if a Dogecoin-millionaire guru told you exactly that in a Youtube ad. Now, becoming a millionaire investor is, of course, possible, but it just won’t happen overnight. If you accept the fact that building wealth takes time, you’ll be just fine. As mentioned above, there is always risk involved. That means, yes, you could lose money, making it even more important to educate yourself about personal finance. Also, there is plenty of room for improvement and mistakes. For instance, test yourself first by starting with as little as €1, do a few trades, review what happened and repeat (or don’t). This way, you’ll learn practical skills in no time, without mistakes costing you too much.

3. It’s too late for me to start investing

Cliché alert: it is never too late to start. On a serious note, clichés are clichés for a reason: they tell a simple truth. By the way, when anyone tells you this, just think about it for a second: what they’re saying is, basically, that they just saw the future, and can therefore tell you that it’s not worth investing anymore, it’s too late. Unrealistic, right? So, why not start today? Just think of the popular proverb: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

4. You need to have relevant experience and knowledge to invest

You don’t need to have an academic degree, nor any formal financial background to invest. You must, on the other hand, have two things: a phone or a laptop and an internet connection. It’s as simple as that. Everybody starts with these tools to learn about investing and researching. The rest is only up to you.

5. It is complicated to navigate through investment platforms

People who say this have never tried Bitpanda, that’s for sure. We know that most exchanges and brokers out there seem overwhelming and complicated at first. That’s why we offer a structured, simple and user-friendly interface with a fantastic layout, making it an easy-to-navigate and intuitive platform. Prefer investing on the go? Not a problem! The Bitpanda app is available for both Android and iOS, where you can do it all in one place.

6. Investing is only for the rich

This statement simply does not hold water in a world where you can literally start investing from as little as €1. After verifying your Bitpanda account and making your minimum deposit of €25, you can explore the intriguing world of traditional investments, such as investing in fractional stocks*, metals and ETFs, or jump into the excitement of cryptocurrencies and innovative products, such as the world’s first real crypto indices, the Bitpanda Crypto Indices. The best part? They’re all available in one place: this is Bitpanda, Europe’s Number 1 investment platform.

What are you waiting for? Start investing!

The information contained in this article is for general information purposes only and is not investment advice in any form.