We keep hearing about financial firms collapsing and fixed-income products failing to meet redemption obligations. In an era where "the entire environment seems to be breaking down," where should ordinary people put their money?
Handing over control of your wealth to the so-called "gurus" everyone worships is nothing but paying a tax on your intelligence. True financial awakening begins when you decide to become the CEO of your own wealth.
This article isn't about teaching you how to get rich quickly. Rather, it shares:
How an ordinary investor gradually moved from blindly trusting "professional institutions" to building their own investment operating system.
Because truly mature investors must ultimately learn one thing:
To reclaim full decision-making power over their own wealth.
Fixed income: The 10% temptation: Why I refused that "sure-win" game
A few years ago, I came across a fixed-income product with an annual return of 10%.
To be honest, in the environment at that time, it didn't sound particularly exaggerated.
Compared to the products that nowadays often tout high returns, it already seemed "moderate".
To build trust, the other party would also invite high-net-worth clients to attend dinner parties.
Many of the old clients at the scene would share:
• How they had received stable interest payments for several consecutive years
• How their funds grew like a snowball
• How they achieved wealth growth through compound interest
But at that time, I always had a question:
How exactly do financial companies make money to be able to consistently pay customers a 10% return?
If a company cannot explain:
• How it makes profits
• Where the profits come from
• How risks are controlled
Then even the most beautiful return rate is just packaging.
Ultimately, I did not participate.
In the following years, the wealth management industry frequently suffered collapses, and many financial companies had consecutive incidents.
I began to realize: Often, it's not that they "aren't trying". Rather, the era benefits they relied on have come to an end.
When growth stops and the capital chain breaks, the entire system will collapse rapidly.
In the investment world, if you can't see the profit model of others, then you are also their profit model.
Star fund managers fall from grace: I start to re-understand "professionalism“"
In 2019, it was one of the hottest periods for mutual funds.Market sentiment was high.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages, the beauty industry, new energy, and semiconductors all saw significant growth.
At that time, almost everyone was discussing funds.
Many fund managers were packaged as "cycle-tapping" investment masters.
I followed suit and bought them.
My account doubled, and I told everyone: Mutual funds are so great.
One year later. The market fell，The drawdown was 20%, and I needed money at that time, so I simply redeemed all.
Not because I was smart, but because of luck. Looking back, that was my most correct wrong decision.
Because in the following years, those funds all declined and didn't recover until now.
Those star managers who were elevated to the pedestal all ended up in a dismal situation.
I finally understood:
Many "excellencies" are just the benefits of the times, not personal abilities.
The bull market amplifies the abilities of everyone.And once the cycle changes, the true level will be exposed.
This is not to say that fund managers lack ability，But many fund managers themselves have inherent limitations:
•stock position limit
•Risk control limit
•Scale limit
•Drawdown pressure
•Fund subscription and redemption pressure
The larger the scale， the harder it is to turn around. Often, it's not that they can't invest flexibly， but that they can't do it like individual investors.
Later, there were also financial salespeople who recommended Hedge Funds to me.
They explained：
Compared to Mutual fund managers who can't flexibly adjust their portfolios， Hedge Funds managers can quickly adjust their positions according to market changes， and the target annual return can reach 25%.
I rejected.
Because from then on， I no longer wanted to completely entrust my wealth to others.
I want to personally understand the market.
Even if it's slower.
Even if I have to pay the tuition.
From a Finance Professional to an Investment Learner: Why I Reentered the "Finance Classroom"
Over the years, I've often heard this question:
"Why doesn't school teach us about personal finance?"
I used to agree with this view. But gradually, I realized that the problem isn't just that schools don't teach it. Rather, many of the skills related to wealth are inherently difficult to acquire through standardized education.
I am an accountant and later pursued further studies, earning my ACCA qualification.
This knowledge taught me how to:
• Analyze financial statements
• Understand business operations
• Assess a company's profitability
But only after truly entering society did I realize:
Understanding finance doesn't mean understanding wealth.
Financial skills primarily help companies operate. Yet once you leave the organizational platform, these abilities don't automatically translate into personal wealth creation.
I began seriously asking myself for the first time:
• What capabilities truly belong to me?
• Which skills remain valuable even after leaving a company?
• What is real wealth sovereignty?
Later, I turned the stock market into my second classroom—because it’s profoundly real.
The market doesn’t reward you for your degree, nor does it guarantee profits just because you work hard. Instead, it forces you to learn:
• Humanity
• Cycles
• Risk
• Emotions
• Decision-making
• Fund management
Even to rethink "cognition" itself.
That’s when I finally grasped what Naval Ravikant meant when he said:
“The fastest way to grow is by studying how to make money, not just continuously learning.”
Because when you study “making money,” you’re actually studying:
• Business logic
• Human dynamics and competition
• The laws governing societal operation
• Resource flows
• Value exchange
And these are precisely the life lessons many people only begin to learn after leaving school.
How can I start building my own stock trading system?
When I first entered the stock market, I was also very confused. After downloading the stock trading software, I began to study bit by bit:
• K-line
• MACD
• KDJ
• Trading volume
• Meaningful trend system
As a finance professional, it wasn't difficult for me to understand a company's financial reports.
But later I discovered:
Being able to read financial reports doesn't mean being able to buy stocks.
Because stocks are not just a company. They are also:
• Market sentiment
• Financial behavior
• Industry cycle
• Group expectations
All these things will eventually be reflected in the graphs.
Later, I started to come into contact with "How to Make Money in Stocks".The 100 charts in the book enabled me to truly understand market trends for the first time.
After that, I read "insider by superstocks ".This book has become a reference book for my stock trading.
Through continuous learning and practice, I gradually realized that:
A truly mature investment is like running a company and must have its own set of operating systems.
The essence of investment: Operating your own "one-person company"
Running a company involves a complete internal operational mechanism, from selecting materials, production to sales and generating revenue.
Stock trading is the same: it also relies on a system that operates:
• How to select stocks
• How to allocate funds
• How to control risks
• How to manage emotions
• How to iteratively improve one's understanding over the long term In this system:
Core decisions cannot be outsourced to anyone. You must have complete decision-making power.
And more important than the methods is discipline.Because the biggest enemy of the market is often not the trend. It's emotion.
- You will act impulsively and sell when scared.
- You will lose rationality and act irrationally when greedy.
So in the end, investment is not about predicting ability. Rather, it's about who can consistently and stably execute their system over the long term.
After a long period of practice, many things that were previously unclear or incomprehensible have become increasingly clear. I have also increasingly understood many of the core ideas of Charlie Munger.
The market will eventually force you to keep learning:
• Psychology
• Business
• Probability
• Cycles
• Human nature
It's not a single discipline. It's a long-term cultivation of comprehensive cognitive abilities.
"Stock Trading or Starting a Business? How to Choose Your 'Entrepreneurial' Path in This Era"
Conclusion: True financial freedom lies in having your own decision-making system.
Over the years, investing in the stock market has made me fortunate to observe:
Investing is not a game of chasing instant wealth. It is more like a long-term cognitive cultivation.
Many people are looking for: "The next stock that doubles in value". But truly mature investors pay more attention to:
• Do you have a complete judgment system?
• Can you think independently?
• Can you consistently and stably follow discipline in the long term?
Because the market will always change. The one that can accompany you for a long time is never a single stock. But rather:
Whether you have established your own wealth operation system.
When you start to manage your life and wealth like running a "one-person company",you have truly begun to regain your sovereignty over your own wealth.
---Extended Reading and Resources
The Super Laws of How I Turned $46K into $6.8 Million (14,972%) in 28 Months.➜
Charlie Munger's Works：
[A curated list of tools and books that have genuinely helped me on my journey. If you find them useful, they might help you too.]
[My reading list] & [My everyday toolkit]