Motley Fool Money - Do You Really Want To Be An Investor?

Episode Date: December 29, 2022

(0:21) Chris Hill discusses: - What's coming up on the show in early January - Seth Rogen's revelation about stand-up comedy - What it takes to be an investor Host: Chris Hill Engineer: Rick Engdahl Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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To close out the year, a few thoughts and one question. Motley Full Money starts now. I'm Chris Hill, just me today. I'm going to keep this short, but I did want to share a couple of thoughts as we close out 2022. First, though, just a heads up on what's coming in the next few days. On Friday, we've got our 2023 preview show, lots of investing ideas, industries, trends to watch, stock ideas, CEOs on the hot seat, reckless predictions. It's a packed show. That's on Friday.

Next week, starting on Monday, we're going to have a series of segments that are really aimed at setting the table for the year. From a financial and investing planning perspective, we'll be talking about growth stocks, value stocks, dividend payers. That starts on Monday. We're taking the weekend off. No new episodes on Saturday or Sunday.

I figured you wouldn't mind the break. But if you're really looking for something to listen to, the Check Your Balances podcast just had their 100th episode, and I'm the guest. I had a lot of fun talking with Ross Anderson and Dan Maseka, the hosts of that podcast. I'm a regular listener to Check Your Balances, so it was fun to be a guest and talk about a bunch of things, including the origin story of Motley Fool Money. So check that out when you get a chance. 2022, not a great year for us as investors.

huh. S&P 500 down 20%, NASDAQ down more than 30%. If you're like me, you've got stocks in your portfolio that are down 50, 60, 70% from their highs. Not a great year at all. Worst year in over a decade. This was a tough one. This was one of those years that makes investors ask questions like, why am I doing this? I saw this interview with Seth Rogan. You know Seth Rogan from knocked up and super bad, actor, writer, director, producer, hugely successful guy, Seth Rogan. And what struck me was that when he started out in the entertainment industry,

he actually didn't set out to do any of those things. He grew up in Vancouver and wanted to be a stand-up comic. So he moved to Los Angeles, started doing stand-up comedy in the clubs, and thought, oh, these other comics are better. I'm not nearly as good as them. And then he said, and I wrote this down because I wanted to get the exact quote. He said, there's a joke that a comic I know in Vancouver would tell that I think about all the time where he's like, I wanted to be a boxer until I fought a guy who really wanted to be a boxer. And that's exactly how I felt about stand-up comedy when I got to L.A.

It's like I wanted to be a stand-up comic until I was around people who really wanted to be stand-up comics. I love that. I love the clear-eyed recognition of the effort required to do something. The effort required to do anything in your personal life, in your professional life. In Seth Rogen's case, it was stand-up comedy. And I feel like this is what you and me and a lot of other investors went through in 2022. Like, I wanted to be in a investor until I was investing in a market that went down 20% in a calendar year and relentlessly punished growth stocks. Because let's face it, it is so much fun when the market is on a bull run. It is borderline intoxicating. But let's face it, anyone, and I mean anyone, can say yes to being an investor in times like most of 2020 and a lot of what we saw in 2021. But after a year like this, this is when you know whether you really want to be an investor. If you can go through a year like this, take the hits to your portfolio and your psyche

and still say, yes, I am ready to invest in 2023. And the question, do you really want to be an investor? I don't think it's actually for you. I suppose it could be if you are relatively new to this endeavor of investing in the stock market. But if you're listening to me right now, I'm just assuming that you're an investor. You don't harbor any illusions. You know what you signed up for. this is the business we've chosen, and we know that this is the cost of doing business.

Rough years like 2022. And I don't know about you, but I'm actually optimistic about the market in 2023. Part of that is a combination of macro factors, overall valuations. And as Jason Moser and I talked about on yesterday's show, there are a whole bunch of companies out there just built to last. And they're not going to stop innovating and delivering for their customers and partners. But part of my optimism is I know what's coming from me and my colleagues at the Motley Fool. We've got some new things we've been working on, both on the service side of our business, as well as the programming side. I'm not going to give anything away because I'm not looking to get into any

trouble with my boss or my co-workers, but I am looking forward to 2023, and I hope you are too. Whatever you're doing, New Year's Eve, wherever you are, please be safe. Just be safe. Have a good time, but be safe. 2023 would not be the same without you. I'm Chris Hill. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.