The market always goes up.  Always.  Bet no one’s told you that before.  But it’s true.  It is not a smooth ride, but it always, and I mean always, goes up.  Not each year.  Not each month.  Not each week and certainly not each day. But take a moment and look at any chart of the stock market over time.  The trend is relentlessly, thru disaster after disaster, up. Understand this and you will be better off than 99% of people who invest in stocks.   TOP 3 THINGS AUDIENCE WILL WALK AWAY WITH : Feeling comfortable with investing in stocks Understanding that the only strategy that yields reliable returns is to buy and hold diversified funds for long term. Understanding how investing in stocks can make you financially independent   -----   About Vlad :  He is a freelance software developer, working remotely with clients in the US for the past 10 years, mainly in the field of health care. Vlad endlessly curious and passionate about learning what makes humans do what they do. A student of stoicism and living simply. A pursuer of financial independence, which led him to read a lot about various ways of making his money work for him and making conscious decisions about where to spend it.