Why I've Chosen to Invest in Indexes, Not Axies

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I guess it's more than time to tackle on Axie Infinity again. Last time, I wrote a post where I talked about how Axie Infinity promised riches but brought disaster. I even laughed writing about how someone may be dismissing AXA but playing Axie Infinity thinking that it's an "investment". Instead, it might be wise to get an Index Fund that will start with a minimum of PHP 1,000.00 or higher. GInvest (which has both ATRAM and Seedbox involved) allows some people to start investing for as low as PHP 50.00 though it might be wise to spare PHP 1,000.00 instead. There are two index funds namely the Philippine Stock Index Fund and the Philippine Equity Smart Index Fund--both focused on the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEI). 

I still remember I wrote about the irony of gambling but not investing. I guess people will find buying index funds or indexes boring. What I noticed after I bought my indexes (and again, I wouldn't tell how much I've placed and neither should you)--it does start to get "boring". It's because the plan is investing long-term and I can't magically turn the hands of time. Yet, I've had a bad habit of checking the investments nearly daily because I might plan to buy yet on a dip or because I check my virtual tree on GCash on a daily basis. It does get "boring" after buying because the prices don't automatically go up or down. Instead, the one thing about stocks is that you may even have to wait longer before you can score big with the buy low then sell high. That's why some people lose the stock trade. It's because of a lack of patience.

I think people "invest" in Axies because it's more exciting. They want the thrill and excitement like people in cockfighting. I call the game like it's cockfighting. Yet, the problem of the exciting part is when the excitement dies. Sure, it's exciting to bet money but that excitement ends when you lose the bet. The Axies are just like fighting cocks--you can't always guarantee your win. It's like betting on horseracing where the outcome is more random than stock performance. You can't guarantee your win. That's why I've avoided Axie Infinity like a plague. I once fell into a pyramid scheme in college and had bad customer credit 10 years ago. Why should I let Axie Infinity be my next mistake? 

Sure, investment can be "boring". I can't help but fidget (at times) when the money I placed isn't moving up yet. Yet, that's something I must expect because I plan to invest long-term. It's a downward cycle right now with the stocks. Yet, Warren Buffett's advice is to buy undervalued stocks and hold them. Buffett also suggests buying index funds because of the lower management feeds. Mutual funds end up having higher fees due to how they try to outperform the market. Index funds simply try to mirror the market which lowers the risk overall. The index fund is best bought and held. I intend to invest for at least five years then maybe pull it out and reinvest it in the banks. I plan to put at least PHP 1,000.00 per month in any of the funds which are at a "dip". I reached my target for one fund, but I feel I need to reach the target amount for another. It might be "boring" at first but there's something to look forward to. 

At the same time, setting some money aside for investment curbs my spendthrift tendencies. I remembered having some money I was tempted to splurge. I wanted to buy this and that. The solution became to invest some money in bonds since I was still scared of stocks. I ended up getting a long-term negotiable certificate of deposit (LTNCD) next. Now, I feel I have some confidence to indirectly get into stocks with the index fund program. I'm just starting small for now but I hope to make it bigger overtime with a monthly or quarterly commitment. 

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