2026 June Weekly Q&A - Investing
In the month of June 2026, we answered the following questions on investing.
- Investing feels like gambling. Why can’t I just put my money into GICs?
- The market feels uncertain right now. Should I wait for a better time to invest?
- Everyone talks about how much money they made on gold. But a close friend shared with me that about two decades ago he lost almost 50% investing in gold. Is gold really safe?
- Can’t I go all-in on AI stocks?
1. Investing feels like gambling. Why can’t I just put my money into GICs?
Almost everyone hears some stories about other people’s investments. Either result, success or failure, can sound like gambling, which might be a fair observation as many people are indeed speculating, not investing.
The distinction lies in the due diligence and decision-making process. Are the decisions made from a friend’s recommendation, an online forum, a YouTuber, etc., or are the decisions made from solid analysis on the investment, such as the financials, outlook, key personnel, competitive landscape, potential disruptive factors, etc.? Long-term success in investing is often achieved with the compounding power of time, a repeatable process, and disciplined execution.
Investing is essential because of inflation. An individual who invests 100K today with an annualized 6% return will end up with 1,028,572 in 40 years. However, the individual who puts 100K into GICs today at an annual interest rate of 2% will only have 220,804. Inflation will diminish the purchasing power of the money grown with GICs. Imagine what we can do with 500K today vs. 20 years ago; the difference is quite substantial.
It has been proven by history and numbers that investing is essential to preserve and grow our wealth and the purchasing power of our money. What separates a sound investment approach from speculation is not the elimination of risk, but rather whether that risk is well understood, deliberate, and proportionate to our overall financial picture and goals.
2. The market feels uncertain right now. Should I wait for a better time to invest?
The desire to wait for clarity before investing is understandable, but it rests on an assumption that rarely holds up in reality: a better moment will be obvious when it arrives.
Markets have always carried uncertainty. Looking back, the periods that felt most unsettling: financial crises, geopolitical disruptions, sharp corrections often turned out to be meaningful entry points for long-term investors. Conversely, periods that felt stable and optimistic have sometimes preceded significant declines. The emotional signal and the financial reality often led in opposite directions.
Despite the valuable lessons provided by history, why are we so obsessed with timing the markets and trying relentlessly to accomplish it? Because we prefer certainty. Psychologically, humans prefer negative certainty over positive uncertainty. The advancement of technology brings much more certainty to people’s lives, while hindering our ability to deal with uncertainty and make decisions in an uncertain environment.
This is not a statement to ignore market conditions, but to ensure that investment decisions are driven by our financial objectives and plan, asset allocation, time horizon, and risk tolerance rather than by how uncertain the current environment feels. Focusing on timing the markets often results in missing the market's best days, which usually follow worst days during the most volatile periods, significantly reducing long-term returns.
Amos Tversky, the partner of Daniel Kahneman (the author of Thinking, Fast and Slow), once said, “It’s frightening to think that you might not know something, but more frightening to think that, by and large, the world is run by people who have faith that they know exactly what’s going on.” A sound financial plan and investment strategy should not require or rely on having full certainty, which itself is an unrealistic expectation.
3. Everyone talks about how much money they made on gold. But a close friend shared with me that about two decades ago he lost almost 50% investing in gold. Is gold really safe?
This is a good reminder that the way an investment "story" is told rarely reflects the full picture. People naturally celebrate their wins and quietly set aside their losses. This selective storytelling can create a perception of any asset, gold included, that doesn't match reality.
What sets gold apart from other assets is how it tends to behave during periods of high inflation, geopolitical instability, or certain economic environments. It is broadly considered a hedge rather than a growth asset. It may respond differently than equities or bonds when markets are under stress.
That characteristic makes gold relevant in certain portfolio conversations, but it shouldn’t come with an expectation of consistently high or guaranteed returns.
If you are considering gold or any specific asset, the decision should be made within the context of your entire portfolio and long-term financial plan, rather than based on the selective experiences shared by others.
4. Can’t I go all-in on AI stocks?
The excitement around AI is understandable; it is a transformative technology, and the market enthusiasm reflects that. But there is an important distinction between a compelling trend and a reliable investment strategy for the long term.
Concentration can sometimes produce exceptional returns. It more often results in significant losses. Distinguishing between a well-reasoned concentrated bet and a misjudged one is far more difficult in advance than it appears in hindsight.
History offers useful references. When the internet emerged in the late 1990s, it was clear to almost everyone that it would change the world. It did. Yet NASDAQ lost nearly 80% of its value between 2000 and 2002, and many of the companies that seemed like obvious winners at the time no longer exist. Investors who concentrated heavily based on the strength of the trend alone suffered losses that took decades to recover. The technology was right. The assumption that picking the winners was straightforward was not.
Establishing exposure across different asset classes, sectors, and geographies doesn't mean missing out on opportunities. It means that no single misjudgment, however reasonable it seemed at the time, can undo the broader plan. A concentrated bet that goes wrong has no offset. A well-diversified portfolio does.
Diversification remains one of the most well-supported principles in investment management. Whether and how to diversify your portfolio across asset classes, geographies, and sectors is a decision that should be grounded in your specific goals, time horizon, and risk capacity, not market sentiment or recent performance.
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