Every week, I hear from people who tell me they want to start investing. They’ve read the articles, watched the videos, maybe even downloaded an investing app or two. But months pass and they still haven’t done it.
When I ask why, the answers usually sound logical.
“I’m still learning”
“I’m waiting until I have more saved up”
“I just don’t want to make a mistake”
But the real reasons people don’t start investing are rarely about logic. They’re about fear, confusion, and a belief that they’re not quite ready yet.
Let me break down what’s actually going on.
1. You’re scared of losing money
This is the big one. The idea of putting your hard-earned money somewhere it could shrink instead of grow feels terrifying.
You’ve heard stories of people losing thousands in the stock market, and you’d rather keep your money where you can see it, safe in a savings account.
But what you don’t realise is that this fear is costing you. Your money is already losing value. Inflation is eating away at your savings every single year.
A savings account paying 3% while inflation runs at 3.6% means you’re going backwards, just slowly enough that you don’t notice.
The stock market has risk, yes. But over the long term, it has historically returned around 8-10% per year on average. The real risk isn’t investing. It’s thinking that doing nothing is the safe option.
2. The jargon makes you feel like this isn’t for you
You open an investing app and suddenly you’re staring at words like VUAG, ACC, P/E ratio, iShares, All-World ETF, and you think: this is for finance people, not me.
The investing industry has done a terrible job of making itself accessible. All those acronyms and graphs create a wall that makes normal people like you and me feel like we need a degree to participate.
But guess what? You don’t need to understand every term to start. You don’t need to know what P/E ratio means right now. You don’t need to analyse graphs.
You just need to understand one thing: when you invest in a broad index fund, you’re buying tiny pieces of hundreds of companies at once, and over time, those companies tend to grow.
That’s it. The rest you can learn as you go.
3. You’re waiting until you feel ready
This one is sneaky because it sounds responsible. “I’ll start when I understand more.” “I’ll start when I earn more” “I’ll start next year.”
But readiness is a feeling that never fully arrives. There will always be another article to read, another bill to pay, another reason to wait.
The people who build wealth aren’t the ones who waited until everything was perfect. They’re the ones who started before they felt ready and figured it out along the way.
You will never feel 100% confident before you begin. Confidence comes from doing, not from preparing to do.
So what now?
If you’ve been telling yourself you’ll start investing “soon,” I want you to notice what’s really holding you back. Is it fear? Is it the jargon? Is it the myth of readiness?
And then I want you to consider this: you don’t need to be an expert. You don’t need to understand everything. You just need to begin.
Start with £50. Pick one simple fund. Make the first deposit. The learning will happen alongside the doing, not before it.
If you want help with this:
The Money Method is my 6-week programme where I walk you through exactly how to start investing, step by step, without the jargon or overwhelm. We start this Saturday, 7th February.
If you’ve been stuck in “I’ll start soon” for months, this is your moment.
👉🏽 Use code DISCOUNT35 for £35 off → Join The Money Method
XOXO,
Chidera 💰