A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about simple investing strategies that anyone can use. As I wrote this post, I realized an important principle that’s guided my investing strategy ever since I got my first job. It’s a principle that I think is important enough to warrant its own post.
The basic principle? Good enough is good enough.
I think a lot of us forget this. Building wealth via investing is a long game filled with unknowns. It’s filled with unknowns because we don’t know and can’t know what the future holds. There’s actually a lot of comfort in this fact because if we know that the future is unknown, it leads to one inevitable truth:
Perfection isn’t the goal. Good enough is the goal.
We Don’t Know (And Can’t Know) The Future
If you’ve ever made the mistake of going into an investing forum where people are picking individual stocks (think Wall Street Bets on Reddit), you’re going to find the equivalent of people betting on horses. Yes, people will make up reasons for why X stock will do this or that. But let’s be real – they don’t really know.
Simple logic tells us why this has to be true because if they did know what some stock would do in the future, then why couldn’t they just gamble their way to billions like Biff Tannen did in Back to the Future 2?
That isn’t to say making bets like this is something you can’t do. If this is something you do for fun, then, by all means, go for it. But if you’re betting everything you have on X stock going up or down because you think you’ve figured something out and are going to be rich because of it, well…you’re probably fooling yourself.
Predicting the future isn’t just limited to these active traders and Wall Street Bets type people either. You get the same thing on the passive index investing forums. Find your way into these forums and you’ll see tons of threads arguing about the minutiae of their portfolios. How much in stocks or bonds is ideal? What’s the right amount of international allocation? Do I have enough small-cap or mid-cap or whatever?
Dive into these threads and you’ll be sure that if you pick the wrong allocation, you’re going to be ruined. The people that think they have the right asset allocation are sure they are right. But how do they know?
There’s a fundamental assumption with anyone that tells you their way of investing is better or worse. They’re making an assumption that they know what’s going to happen in the future.
Admittedly, that’s exactly what I do as well because I’ve picked my investing strategy based on a belief that the future will look a certain way. The difference though, is I don’t care about whether what I do is the best. Some portfolios will do better. Others will do worse.
I only care about one thing. Is it good enough? So long as it’s good enough, that’s all that matters.
We Only Need To Cross The Finish Line
Investing isn’t about getting things perfect. It’s not even about doing things above average. That’s because our ultimate goal isn’t to be the best or to finish first. Our goal is just to finish. A participation trophy is good enough.
That’s where good enough comes into play. We just need an investing strategy that is, more likely than not, good enough to get us to the finish line.
Think about that. It takes a lot of the pressure off when you realize that all you need is to get to the end. We don’t have to make bets about specific stocks. We don’t have to hit home runs. Heck, we barely have to do anything weird.
Getting a decent job, spending less than you earn, investing in our retirement accounts, and investing in things that are reasonable and likely to do well over the long term. That’s literally all we need to get to the finish line and get our participation trophy.
Final Thoughts
The idea that investing only requires us to do good enough is a bit paradoxical. Many of us have been taught our whole lives that it’s not just about being good enough – it’s about being the best. And if not being the best overall, at least being the best we can be.
But that’s the funny thing about investing. It doesn’t require you to be the best. You don’t even have to be the best that you can be. In fact, you just have to be decidedly average.
Knowing this is freeing. It means instead of obsessing over every little detail with our investments, we can instead just think about the things we can control.
So what can we control? Well, we can do the following:
- Keep Costs Low. How your investments will do over any given period of time isn’t something you can control. One thing you can control though is how much you’re paying for your investments. Indeed, it might be the only thing we absolutely can do to improve our returns over the long term. Passive index funds from companies like Vanguard do exactly that. They bring our investing costs to almost nothing.
- Don’t Freak Out. There’s no surer way to mess up your investment returns than to freak out when things are looking bad. As I’ve made clear, none of us knows what the future holds. Things will go up and down. If you freak out when things look bad, you’re inevitably going to miss the climbs that come later (if you knew the future, you’d be able to avoid the drops, but unless you have an almanac from the future, you don’t know the future). Interestingly enough, if you freak out when things are looking bad, it means you’re making a prediction about the future too – that things are going to get worse, but that you know when they’ll get better. If you do have that crystal ball, well, don’t be selfish – help us all out.
- Invest For The Long Term. Since we can’t know what the future holds, trying to figure out what’s going to happen in the short term is a lesson in futility. Again, think about it logically. If you knew or could guess what could happen, you’d make yourself millions or even billions in a short time just from investing a small sum of money. That’s not how investing works. We can’t figure out what will happen day by day or week by week. But we can guess that if civilization doesn’t collapse and if companies keep growing and innovating, things will look better in the long-term future. It’s about doing whatever we can to stay in the game so we can see those long-term returns.
- Invest As Much As You Can. This might be the most important thing you can control. Too many people get into investing thinking about rates of return and what they can do to get the highest rate of return on their investments. But doubling a small amount of money is still exactly that – a small amount of money. What matters isn’t how much percentage return you’re getting. It’s about the absolute numbers. To get to the finish line, we ultimately have to brute force save as much money as we can so that our returns actually mean something.
In conclusion, the lesson here is pretty simple. Good enough investing is what we’re looking to do. That means pick a reasonable asset allocation and stick with it. If you want to obsess over the tiny minutiae of how much you need in domestic or international allocations, that’s fine – you’re welcome to do it. But that’s likely not going to be the difference between whether you finish or not.
My portfolio is not going to be the same as yours. And that’s perfectly fine. But as long as we’re both doing good enough, then we’re winning the game. Good enough is good enough!
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- US Bank Business ($500) – This offer is limited to customers in the following states: AZ, AR, CA, CO, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, MN, MO, MT, NE, NV, NM, NC, ND, OH, OR, SD, TN, UT, WA, WI, WY. This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- Upgrade ($50) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $50 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on April 15, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before April 15th, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $50 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($20) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $500 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $20 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I can attest this philosophy works. I started investing in a 401K when I was 24, right out of college. 30 years later, retirement is looking rosy. I would add another key to consider – choose a partner that feels the same way and shares your financial goals. I have a lot of friends whose spouses like to buy fancy cars, etc. and now they can’t afford to retire. Thanks for the good article! I also use a fee only advisor now too who gives advice on all topics.
That’s amazing. 30 years of investing = big money by the end.
Excellent point, and totally agree. It’s easy to get intimidated by the minutiae of various investments and asset allocation, and I just don’t have the energy to obsess over that stuff. Nor do I put much stock in any “expert” who thinks they can tell me exactly what is “best” for my situation and risk tolerance. It’s so much more freeing to focus on just putting as much away as possible by making money and saving money. We try to split some investments into index funds and others into real estate, and beyond that I don’t give it much thought. It’ll work out.
Exactly – you pick something that is good enough and then stick with it. None of us knows the future, so all you can do is just do good enough.
Thank you for this article, it’s a refreshing perspective. We are retired and in good financial shape, yet I worry “ Is it enough” because of that unknown future. You are right. We are good enough!
Amen to Jean’s partner tip. My husband and I are on the same page. That’s a huge factor.
Good enough. That’s all we can do unless someone has a crystal ball out there to tell us what to do.
Absolutely – you don’t really need to be that fastest runner. I mean, who cares, right? Just run, slowly if you want to – and there’s great comfort in that.
On that note, compounding would be like running on a conveyor. Walk if you’d like 🙂
Haha, I like that analogy.
Very good article. I have sometimes felt “paralysis by analysis” by reading about the different ways to maximize returns. But as you stated, delaying investing has probably cost more than whatever extra gain I could have squeezed out. I think actually good enough could apply to more than than just investing as people more and more strive for picture-perfect Instagram lifestyles.
Agree with you there. We get bombarded with so much “perfect” you there. Good enough is good enough I think.