Nobody likes to think that they’re greedy, but in certain circumstances, you have the tendency to display a level of greed that will shock even you.

Just a few months after the MMM saga in 2016, a friend reached out to me about an “investment” she was considering; the name was Loom. I remember how hard I tried to convince this person that it was a scam. But as they say, my words “entered the right ear and immediately came out of the left ear”.

The “investment” capital required for Loom was ₦13K and in less than a week, the “investor” was going to earn about ₦26k – a whopping 100% increase in just 7 days. It was ridiculous to me but the voice of greed was louder in my friend’s ear. Worst part? The money she intended to put in was not hers. 

Imagine going into debt to be able to invest in a scam. 

Did it yield returns?

I followed up after a few months and obviously, nothing came out of it. My friend did not get ₦26k and never got her ₦13K back too. Thankfully, she wasn’t so devastated – after all, it was just ₦13K.

Though I do not know others who put money in Loom, it is very possible that many people put their life’s savings into it, even after everything they previously heard about MMM.

We can blame this way of thinking about investment returns on ignorance (and it is true that some people genuinely do not know how investments work) but I’ll like to blame greed.

People are more greedy than they like to admit.

How did Ponzi schemes start?

Charles Ponzi is to blame. He started the fraudulent initiative of creating pyramid schemes where investors are paid high “returns” in a short time frame with other investors’ money.

According to biography.com, “Charles Ponzi was the infamous swindler who payed out returns with other investors’ money. The “Ponzi scheme” is named after him. After running a highly profitable and expansive investment scheme, Ponzi was arrested on August 12, 1920, and charged with 86 counts of mail fraud. Owing an estimated $7 million, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud, and subsequently spent 14 years in prison”.

When it comes to investing and life in general, patience is a virtue.

“Everything has a price, and the key to a lot of things with money is just figuring out what the price is and being willing to pay it…Market returns are never free and never will be. They demand you pay a price, like any other product.” – Morgan Housel, Psychology of Money

The price that successful investors pay is patience. 

“More than 2000 books are dedicated to how Warren Buffett built his fortune. Many of them are wonderful. But few pay enough attention to the simplest fact: Buffett’s fortune isn’t due to just being a good investor, but being a good investor since he was literally a child.” – Morgan Housel, Psychology of Money

Warren Buffett’s net worth a few years ago was about $84.5 billion. Of that amount, $84.2 billion was accumulated after his 50th birthday.

So…

Do you want to be a successful investor? Then you’ll have to pay the price of patience like he did. 

Start investing the right way now.