The Bagholder

Jumping headfirst into trading without a safety net is like base-jumping off a cliff with a napkin taped to your back. Sure, maybe you saw some guy do it on Instagram and he landed fine. But that guy also had an off-screen helicopter and an options flow bot that cost more than your car.

Let’s get real: trading is hard. Not “solve-a-Sudoku-in-the-dark” hard. More like “try to beat a casino where the deck is stacked, the lights are flashing, and your dopamine circuits are begging you to go all-in on Tesla calls because some stranger on X said ‘it’s coiling.’” That kind of hard.

You need a safety net. Not a “trust the process” mindset. Not a dream board. A real, tangible, cold-blooded financial cushion. We’re talking:

• Time deposit – For when you want your money locked up just long enough to forget it exists.
• Money market – Boring? Yes. Lifesaving? Also yes.
• Cash – The ultimate safety net. The one thing that doesn’t go down when the market panic dumps at 3:57 PM on a Tuesday for no reason.
• Gold – Because if the system really collapses, you can always trade it for bread or bullets.
• Foreign currency savings – Especially if you live in an emerging market where inflation lurks like a mugger in a dark alley. My move? USD in stablecoin form — it’s flexible (no minimums), yields more than your local bank’s sorry excuse for dollar savings, and most importantly, it’s not tied to whatever political storm brews next in your backyard.

I mix money market with fixed income funds. Sprinkle in some USD stablecoins. Why? Because after enough 20% drawdowns, you start craving predictability like a recovering addict craves herbal tea and structure. You realize the market owes you nothing, and all those trading gurus on YouTube don’t issue refunds when you YOLO and lose.

A book that hammers this reality home? A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton G. Malkiel. It’s not sexy. It won’t teach you the MACD triple twist. But it will absolutely break your illusion that you can beat the market just because you read a thread.

Here’s what Malkiel says:

• Markets are efficient. Whatever you know, the price already knows.
• Stock movements are random. Patterns? Coincidence dressed up in chart form.
• Even pros lose. And you, retail gladiator, are not special.
• The real strategy? Diversify, stay cheap, invest long-term, and quit playing trader if you’re not built for it.

That last one stings. But you know what stings more? Getting liquidated and having to explain to your partner why your “conviction” is now down 78%.

So before you throw another leveraged dart at a ticker you saw on Reddit, ask yourself: Do I have a plan? More importantly: Do I have a parachute?

Because when the market turns — and it will — the only thing between you and financial ruin might be your cash, your USD stablecoins, and a humble money market fund.

Be reckless if you want.

Just don’t be reckless without backup.