BIO: Marvin Germo is a stock market trader, entrepreneur, best-selling book author, international keynote speaker, brand influencer, and personal financial consultant in the Philippines.
STORY: Marvin was enticed to buy his first stock by his colleague who was having good luck with his. Marvin’s luck, however, wasn’t as good. The stock price went down significantly as soon as he invested causing him to lose all his money.
LEARNING: Focus on your own way of investing; don’t depend on other people’s gains. Wealth is built over time, not overnight.
“Don’t focus on making money in the next eight minutes. Focus on the next eight years.”
Marvin Germo
Guest profile
Marvin Germo is a stock market trader, entrepreneur, best-selling book author, international keynote speaker, brand influencer, and personal financial consultant who is among the most passionate personal finance experts in the Philippines.
Worst investment ever
When Marvin was starting in the stock market, a colleague told him about a stock he was confident would do well. He, however, took his time and didn’t invest immediately. At the time, the stock was selling at 12 pesos and went to 15 in a couple of days, and then it went to 24. Marvin’s colleague doubled his money. He even borrowed from friends to invest more. Then the stock went to 32 pesos and then fell to 25.
Marvin was impressed by his colleague’s conviction because he never stopped investing even when the stock price started to fall. Now he was interested in buying the stock too. His colleague convinced him that it was an excellent time to buy, and he remained optimistic that it would go to 50 pesos. Marvin bought the stock. Then two months later, the stock crashed to 17 pesos. He panicked, but his colleague told him to buy more so that he would break even when the stock goes back up. So he bought more stocks. The price never went up. Marvin sold half his stock at 16 pesos and the other half at 13 pesos.
Lessons learned
- You build wealth over time.
- Don’t wait until you have a lot of money to start investing. Start with whatever you have right now.
- Take as much risk as possible while you’re young.
- When you’re investing, focus on your own race, you don’t have to compare your gains with other people’s. You have different starting points, different capital, different risk tolerances, and different timelines.
- Before buying anything, understand what it is, how much you should put in, and how to exit properly.
Andrew’s takeaways
- Most people struggle to be an entrepreneur because of the many things they have to deal with.
- Create, grow and protect your wealth.
- Most of the time, people are winning in the stock market through luck, not through skill, and therefore, when luck turns, they get hurt.
- Your business doesn’t always need debt to be valuable.
- Find something that you know that you can excel in and try to double down on that.
Actionable advice
Start investing now and take your time to build wealth. It’s not a sprint; it’s a marathon.
No. 1 goal for the next 12 months
Marvin’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to understand the cryptocurrency space deeply.
Parting words
“Keep on investing and pushing forward.”
Marvin Germo
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