7 excuses that keep you poor — and why none of them are true

arvy's Teaser: You know you should invest. You've heard it a hundred times. And yet you don't do it. Why? Because a voice in your head is telling you one of these seven excuses. They sound reasonable. They feel smart. But they cost you tens of thousands — and not a single one is true.

01"I don't earn enough"

Why it feels true:

You live in Switzerland, everything is expensive, not much is left at the end of the month. Investing — that's for people with a lot of money.

Why it's false:

You don't need CHF 10,000 to start. You need CHF 1. Literally. And if you invest CHF 100 or CHF 200 per month — consistently, over years — it becomes a substantial fortune.

You say "I don't earn enough" — but you're probably paying CHF 150/month for subscriptions you barely use. The question isn't whether you can afford to invest. The question is whether you can afford not to.

02"The market is too high right now"

Why it feels true:

The news is talking about all-time highs. "It's never been this expensive." If you buy now, you're buying at the peak and it can only go down. Logical, right?

Why it's false:

All-time highs are normal. The stock market has reached new all-time highs thousands of times in the last 100 years. And after every one came the next. Anyone who waited at every all-time high never invested.

Here's the statistic that changes everything: studies show that someone who invested consistently on the worst day of every year performed only marginally worse than someone who always invested on the best day. The difference: a few percent. The real loser? The person who didn't invest at all.

"Time in the market beats timing the market — always."

03"I don't understand enough about it"

Why it feels true:

Stocks, ETFs, conversion rates, rebalancing, P/E ratios — you don't understand half the terms. How are you supposed to make a good decision?

Why it's false:

You don't need to understand everything to start. You need to understand exactly three things:

First: companies create value, and as an investor you own a part of that. Second: over long periods, the global economy grows, and with it your wealth. Third: the earlier you start, the more you benefit from compounding.

You learn everything else along the way. And learning with real money is a thousand times more valuable than theoretical study.

04"Investing is gambling"

Why it feels true:

You hear about people who lost everything. Crypto crashes. GameStop. "The rich get richer and the small investors lose." Sounds like a casino.

Why it's false:

Speculating is gambling. Investing is the opposite:

Speculating means: you buy something and hope the price goes up. You don't know why, you don't know what you're buying, you're placing a bet.

Investing means: you buy a stake in a real company that sells real products, earns real profits and pays real dividends. Nestlé isn't going to disappear tomorrow. Visa isn't going to stop processing payments. That's not gambling — that's participating in the economy.

The stock market has risen over every 20-year period in history. No casino in the world can claim that.

05"I'm waiting for the crash"

Why it feels true:

Eventually the next crash will come. If you buy then, you buy cheap. Logical.

Why it's false:

Nobody knows when the crash is coming. And historically: even if you had invested in 2007 — right before the biggest financial crisis of our generation — you would have been in profit five years later. Massively in profit ten years later.

But what really happens when you "wait for the crash": you wait. And wait. And wait. The crash comes — and you don't buy, because you're afraid it might fall further. Then the market rises again — and you wait for the next crash. You're never invested. Ever.

06"My bank advisor says I should save first"

Why it feels true:

The advisor is a professional. They have an office and a tie. They must know better.

Why it's false:

Your bank advisor makes money when you buy bank products — not when you make the best decision for yourself. "Save first" sounds sensible, but in practice it means: your money sits in an account earning 0.3–0.75% interest while inflation erodes it by 1–2% per year. You're getting poorer while "saving."

The smart alternative: both at the same time. An emergency fund of 3–6 months of expenses in a savings account. Everything else invested. You don't need CHF 100,000 in a savings account before you're allowed to start. (→ The Action Plan: First Steps)

07"I'll start next year"

Why it feels true:

Next year you'll earn more. Next year you'll understand more. Next year the market will be better. Next year, next year, next year.

Why it's the most expensive excuse of all:

"Next year" will never come, because next year has another next year. The only moment that counts is now.

The real risk is doing nothing

We always talk about the risk of investing. But nobody talks about the risk of not investing:

Your money loses 1–2% of purchasing power every year through inflation. Your savings account doesn't compensate for that. Over 20 years, that's 20–40% loss of value — without you ever "losing" a franc. The number is still there, but it buys less and less.

At the same time, a broadly invested portfolio historically doubles roughly every 10–12 years. Anyone who doesn't invest doesn't just miss returns — they are actively getting poorer, every day, slowly, invisibly.

"The greatest danger isn't that you invest and it goes badly. The greatest danger is that you don't invest and only realise at 60."