Mama Said Investing Is Sweet as Lemonade: Why You Need to Start Today

Let’s be real for a minute. I wish I had started investing 25 years ago.

I was 23 years old, serving in the military out in Colorado Springs. I was young, earning a paycheck, and I didn’t know any better. I wasn’t alert enough to just put a little bit of money aside or take my tax return and buy some stocks. If I had just made a simple goal to save up, it wouldn’t have been that hard.

Back then my money was spent on entertainment and Food.

If I knew then what I know now, I could have easily had enough money for a substantial down payment on a house years ago.

But I didn’t. And that time is gone.

The reason I’m writing this for 757 Biz Click today is simple: I don’t want you to make the same mistake. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is right now.

One of the great companies that could help you stick your toes into the market is Stash. Stash is a company that helps beginners’ and veterans a like invest into the market.

The Vanishing $500 Trick

Ask yourself this: How fast does $500 go when you spend it on “stuff”? It vanishes really quick, doesn’t it? Honestly, even $200 seems to disappear the second it hits your bank account.

If that money is going to vanish anyway, why not put it somewhere it can actually multiply?

I know people are worried. I do believe the American economy has a lot of headwinds in front of it. Inflation is tough. But I tell you what—I’m willing to make that bet. I’m willing to take that opportunity because there are great companies out there and great business people who will always find a way to make money.

My plan is simple: I want to invest in other people’s successful businesses while I’m building my own.

The Power of “Setting and Forgetting” (The Proof)

You might think you need to be a financial wizard to make money in the market. You don’t.

Let’s look at real data. Let’s say you decided to get serious and put just $1,000 into an S&P 500 Index Fund in January 2020, right before the world shut down. You didn’t add another dime. You just let it sit there through the pandemic crash, the recovery, the inflation fears of 2022, and the wars abroad.

Here is what that $1,000 would look like today:

Year End	Your Account Value	What Happened?
2020	$1,184	Despite the COVID crash, the market recovered.
2021	$1,523	A great year for stocks.
2022	$1,247	A scary year. Inflation and war tanked the market.
2023	$1,576	The recovery begins.
2024	$1,970	The market hits new highs.
Jan 2026	~$2,322	You more than doubled your money by doing nothing.

Note: Based on historical S&P 500 total return data.

This is why you start right now. Even with disasters happening in the world, great companies find a way to grow over time.

In the last 7 days I have put $45 into the market. And tomorrow my auto deposit I will add another $50 through Stash. I am super excited about my investing strategy!

Breaking Down the Jargon

Before we go further, let’s simplify how you actually put money into the market. There are four basic ways people invest:

1. A Single Stock: Buying a tiny slice of ownership in one specific company (like buying just Apple).
2. A Mutual Fund: Pooling your money with thousands of others and paying a professional manager to pick stocks for you.
3. An ETF (Exchange Traded Fund): Like a mutual fund, but it trades instantly like a stock during the day.
4. An Index Fund: The easiest “set it and forget it” tool. Instead of trying to pick winners, an index fund simply buys every company on a specific list (like the S&P 500) to match the market’s average performance.

The “Lemonade Street” Index Fund Illustration

To explain why I love Index Funds so much, imagine five kids live on the same block, and they all start lemonade stands on the same hot Saturday in July.

The Players:

• Hustling Hank: He’s out there at 6:00 AM making fresh signs.
• Serious Sarah: She uses a secret recipe and has the best location.
• Average Andy: He shows up, sells some juice, does a decent job.
• Lazy Larry: He opens late and spends half the time playing on his iPad.
• Distracted Debbie: She forgets to buy ice and closes early to go swimming.

Scenario 1: The Index Fund Approach

You have $100 to invest. You don’t have time to figure out which kid is a hard worker. You just know that lemonade sells well in July.

So, you invest your $100 equally across all 5 stands.

• The Result: Larry and Debbie barely make a dime because they weren’t committed. But Hank and Sarah make huge profits.
• Your Outcome: Even though some kids failed, Hank and Sarah did so well that your total investment grew. You didn’t make a fortune overnight, but you made a solid, safe profit without doing any research. You bought the whole street.

Scenario 2: Picking Individual Stocks

Next year, you try to be smart. You decide to only invest in Hank and Sarah because you know Larry is lazy.

• The Risk: What if Sarah gets the flu on Saturday morning and can’t open her stand? You just lost half your investment. What if Lazy Larry suddenly decides he wants a new PlayStation and works harder than anyone else? You missed out on his boom.

An Index fund guarantees you own the winners, even if you also have to hold a few losers. It takes the stress out of it.

Finding Hope Through Investing

For me, investing isn’t just about the math. It’s personal.

I’ve been through a lot in the past six years. I have battled homelessness, living in a hotel with my wife and my kid while working very hard to be a great business person. I’ve fought mental illness and navigated serious relationship problems with my wife that caused a lot of trouble.

I fight a lot of battles every single day.

For me, my business and investing have made me feel great. They are positive outlets in my life that allow me to have hope and focus on good things. When I invest, I feel like I’m taking control of my future.

Riding the Wave into the Future

Finally, I believe investing is the only way to navigate the new economy that is emerging right now. We are on the verge of massive changes with Artificial Intelligence and robotics.

You have to ride this wave, or you’re going to get crushed by it.

Look at what’s happening:

• We have autonomous cars on the verge of road-ready breakthroughs.
• In China, they have “Dark Factories”—factories run entirely by robots that don’t even need lights on to operate.
• Elon Musk is rolling out the Optimus humanoid robot, predicting that by 2050 there could be billions of them doing extraordinary tasks.

Elon’s SpaceX is likely to be the next trillion-dollar company. Tesla is still great, but the excitement now is about their robotic wing, not just EVs.

Furthermore, think about the support systems. The energy field is poised for massive growth because AI data centers require huge amounts of power generation. Cloud companies like Palantir are essential to this growth.

Even if you only take a hands-off approach and catch the wind in an Index Fund, you will have exposure to these world-changing trends.

FAQ section

FAQ 1: How much money do I need to start investing?
You can start with as little as $5–$20 on many platforms. The key is consistency.

FAQ 2: What’s the safest investment for beginners?
Broad index funds (like an S&P 500 index fund) are a popular “set it and forget it” option, but all investing has risk.

FAQ 3: Should I invest if the economy feels uncertain?
Many people use steady contributions over time (often called dollar-cost averaging) so they’re not trying to time the market.

FAQ 4: Is an ETF the same as an index fund?
Not exactly. An ETF is a type of fund structure that can track an index and trades like a stock.

It’s Time to Start

In closing, the choice is yours. You can choose to invest in great individual companies like Tesla. You can buy an ETF like Cathy Wood’s ARK investment funds to get broad exposure to tech companies. Or you can buy a simple S&P 500 index fund.

Just don’t do nothing. The time is now to get started.

Ready to start? I’ve been using Stash to invest—they provide expert guidance and tools to put your money to work effortlessly.

Click here to get $50 to invest when you join Stash and deposit at least $5. Make sure to claim it before it expires!