Why Playing It Safe With Your Money Is The Riskiest Move Of All
The scary truth about your safe, snug bank account
Let’s call it out... The thought of the "stock market" can be F’in scary. BUT there's something much scarier!
The fear that feels smart
Suddenly, your brain serves up horror scenes of the market crashing and your hard-earned cash vanishing overnight. You picture Leo from Wolf of Wall Street personally conning you out of your savings. The next scene? You, struggling to pay rent, eating the 69c baked beans, the store brand ones, not even Heinz.
Sounds dramatic? I know. Wouldn’t be like me.
But your nervous system doesn’t care. It tries to keep you “safe” by keeping you still. And it looks like this: your money sits in a bank account, quietly suffocating while the world keeps growing.
What if I told you that safety net is the trap? That leaving your money idle might be the scariest move of all?
I’m also not talking about hoarding cash or scrimping your pennies. No way.
I’m talking about finding that sweet spot. You know the one I’m talking about 😉. The one you feel when you’re relaxed, you're not uptight or worrying about your money 👀 . That sweet spot where your financial system feels calm, it’s ebbing and it’s flowing in the right direction, and you’re finally released from all the... money stress.
It’s that powerful place where you stop being a bystander and start building your own money funnels. One of those funnels flows into a globally diversified index fund portfolio. And nope, it doesn't involve a casino, it's real ownership of real functioning businesses.
The illusion of safety
We don’t avoid investing because we are lazy or ignorant. We avoid it because our brains are wired to dodge pain and avoid the feeling of losing (loss aversion).
Red numbers on a chart trigger the same threat response as seeing a tiger lurking in the bushes. So we choose comfort, to stay in the "safe zone". We choose the bank account because it's the only place we know where to "safely" store our cash.
Except it isn’t. Inflation eats it, year after year. Your money might feel safe, but it quietly buys you less. This illusion costs you greatly over time.
I was once that person. “I’ll invest when I have more time.” “I’ll start once I earn more.” Spoiler: neither arrived on schedule.
The moment the penny dropped
My wake-up call was during Covid and the book Millionaire Expat by Andrew Hallam.
Andrew was a teacher, not a Wall Street wizard, yet he built financial freedom with simple, repeatable steps. He didn’t gamble. He gardened.
That idea cracked something open for me. I stopped seeing the market as a mysterious back room with slick salesmen like Leo and started seeing it as a global orchard. You plant. You water. You stay patient. You harvest something beautiful later.
And the line that changed how I treat my money:
“Money is your employee." Put it to work, baby.
Once the light bulb switched ON, something shifted. I realised my “safe” choice was costing me more than the fear of volatility or the unknown ever could.
The plan that builds freedom
Image generated by AI - using a compound interest calculator to calculate the numbers.
Let’s get specific. Imagine you invest $1,000 per month into a globally diversified portfolio that earns an average 7% per year, compounded.
Here’s how that grows when you simply stick with it:
After 10 years: you contributed $120,000 and end up with about $175,094
After 20 years: you contributed $240,000 and end up with about $524,965
After 30 years: you contributed $360,000 and end up with about $1,228,087
That last number carries a spark, doesn’t it? Roughly $867,000 of that final money pot isn’t from your contributions. It’s your money working for you - that thing called compound interest!
Now compare that to saving the same $1,000 a month in a typical savings account at 0.5% if you're lucky. After 30 years, you’d have about $389,476.
Time in the market transforms “I hope” into “I have evidence.”
Yes markets crash, they dip, that's the short-term volatility (which we need) then they recover and grow. Over long stretches, the markets have always rewarded patient and diversified investors.
You’re not trying to predict the next headline or the next recession. That's a fools game. You’re letting thousands of companies do what they do best while you get on with your life and you don't get bogged down trying to micro manage everything with your ego.
Let's talk statistically:
✅ The S&P 500’s long-run average has been approx 10% per year across the last century. Not every year and not even most years. The path is volatile (ups & downs). The mean average over time is the point.
✅ If you're not fully invested or you're trying to time the market - missing just a handful of the market’s best days can slash your long-term returns in half. Those “best days” often come right after the scariest drops. Managing Market Volatility Study.
✅ Over long horizons, diversified stock investors have historically seen the odds tilt heavily in their favor. Volatility is temporary. Compounding is persistent.
There is no crystal ball needed. You must trust the process.
The mindset that sticks
Beginner investors and hesitant expats often ask me, “How do I stop being scared?”
Here’s the short answer:
Make money your employee. Give every dirham or dollar a job. Emergency fund in a high-interest account. Understand your income Vs your expenses. Then send long-term money to work in a globally diversified fund. You own it, it doesn’t own you.
Automate the transfers if you can. We’re all busy and we all forget. Remove the decision fatigue and you remove most self-sabotage.
Zoom out. Your portfolio is like a garden. Some seasons look dry. Then, before you know it, it’s green again from the luscious rainfall. Allow nature to run its course.
Choose simple on purpose. Low-cost, broad index funds. No lottery tickets, no need to stock pick either. The goal is long-term freedom, not short-term fireworks.
Measure progress by years, not days. The wins come from staying consistent, not checking your balance everyday.
The Vision & The Promise
Close your eyes and meet future you.
She’s calm and grounded. Rent or mortgage paid from strength and self discipline. Her choices made from confidence, not FOMO. She moves through life assured, funding the things that make her heart light up and she's not slave to endless material consumption.
And right now, you make her a promise. You’ll keep showing up, you’ll plant the seed, you’ll water it carefully and you’ll wait with patience. Because that’s how gardens grow.
You understand that fear still flutters in sometimes, like a cheeky pigeon at Kite Beach, trying to rob your sandwich but fear doesn’t run the show anymore.
And when the noise gets loud or Leo pops up trying to sell you a dirty little penny stock, you’ll smile, close the ad, and keep investing in the market and in her.
Because one day, she’ll look back and say, “Thank you for staying the course.”
If you’re looking for 1:1 help to start your money journey, that’s what I’m here for. I’ll sit beside you (virtually), no judgment, and get your money funnels set up the simple, powerful, compounding way.
Not quite ready for that? Join my mailing list and I’ll send you my Free Beginner Blueprint. It’s literally my starter journey in a PDF, step by simple step 😉
Educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Invest according to your own goals, timeline, and risk tolerance.
