Ariana’s Story

Ariana, 23, is a retail manager living in Georgia with her mother, brother and 6-month-old daughter. She checks on her investments 2 -3 times a week, eyeing any gains or losses she incurs. “I want to set myself up for the future.”

Diary Entry 2, June 2025

Deepening Trust in the Process

Ariana, 23, continues to build her financial foundation with growing structure and intention. Since her last entry, her investing activity has become more consistent and deliberate. What once felt uncertain now feels purposeful.

Her core goals have evolved steadily over time: long-term stability, building generational wealth, and creating options for herself and her daughter, including the desire to purchase a home. She continues contributing to her brokerage and Roth IRA accounts and leverages strategic  deposits to build consistency. She has also expanded her contributions over time, increasing the amount she invests as her income allows.

I only invest as much as I’m willing to lose, so I’ll just play with it, you know? And it’s really just trial and error for me, honestly.”

She now spends two to three hours per week reviewing her accounts (often daily for short periods of time), researching investments, and planning contributions. While she once checked her accounts primarily out of curiosity or anxiety, she now approaches them with a clearer strategy.

Beginner Uncertainty to Structured Growth

Earlier in her journey, Ariana described herself as a beginner who relied heavily on outside sources to guide her decisions. She continues to use digital tools and online communities to inform her investing, but her confidence in filtering information has improved.

She uses apps and online platforms to track trends and identify opportunities, but she no longer reacts quickly to every headline or fluctuation. Instead, she takes a more measured approach, especially when evaluating new stocks or sectors.

Her portfolio continues to reflect a blend of exchange-traded funds and select individual stocks. She favors ETFs for stability and long-term growth but occasionally adds individual stocks during dips when she sees long-term potential. She has also maintained contributions to her Roth IRA and continues reinvesting dividends rather than withdrawing gains.

I do a lot of my own research and kind of just sticking to what has already worked for me in the past. So, you know, my method, having most of my funds go into ETFs instead of individual stocks because they’re more risky. ETFs give me steady growth over time. And I really enjoyed, you know, watching that growth go up.”

Staying Committed

Balancing work, motherhood, and professional development has required tradeoffs. Ariana continues working full time while pursuing further education and professional certifications. These responsibilities have occasionally limited how much she can contribute to her investment accounts, but they have not altered her commitment.

When short-term expenses arise, she adjusts contribution amounts rather than withdrawing funds. She views her investments as long-term assets, separate from everyday spending needs.

She continues to avoid unnecessary debt and prioritizes protecting her credit profile. While she may rely on structured financing for her education, she remains cautious about taking on new obligations that would hinder long-term growth.

A Stronger Money Mindset

Perhaps the most significant shift in Ariana’s journey is her mindset. Earlier volatility once created stress, particularly when balances were small. Now, fluctuations feel less personal and more procedural. As her balances have grown, so has her ability to tolerate short-term dips. She views market swings as part of the process rather than a signal to exit.

Short term losses don’t bother me at all. They used to bother me a little bit, you know, when I was first starting to get into my investing journey… when I didn’t have that much money invested, I was like, oh, my gosh, I’m losing money when I only had like $10 invested overall. Um, and I would see it go to like $8 and I’d be like, oh my gosh, I’m losing money. But now that I have over almost $4,000 invested overall… seeing anything negative doesn’t bother me. Because… I gained a lot of money over time.”

Her belief in long-term compounding remains strong. She continues to see investing not just as a wealth-building tool, but as a vehicle for freedom and future flexibility.

A Long-Term Horizon

Over the next year, Ariana plans to continue investing and increasing her contributions as her income grows. She is exploring additional professional pathways and considering entrepreneurial goals that could diversify her income streams in the future.

Her strategy remains disciplined with steady contributions, diversified investments, and a long-term horizon. While she continues learning, she now trusts herself more deeply to make informed decisions. Ariana’s journey reflects an evolution from hesitation to intentional action anchored in a growing trust that disciplined investing, paired with patience, can create lasting financial stability.

…I’m probably going to still be investing for as long as I have a stable job and making stable income…So investing for the future is definitely on my plate.”

Diary Entry 2, June 2025

Expanding Horizons 

Ariana, 22, is using her newfound skills and confidence to expand her assets further and extend her goal towards retirement. She spends around one and a half hours per week reviewing investments, researching companies, and learning from others’ perspectives. This is a slight change to her investment activities from 30 to 45 minutes a week in March and overall higher than her previous activities in February.

From Skepticism to Confidence

When she gained an initial interest in investing, Ariana was skeptical about the process and didn’t have what she felt was enough funds to deposit—delaying getting started for about two years. She eventually did so by opening an investing account with an incentive offered by the investing platform. At first, she was hesitant to invest, but now she is more confident, seeing that she has been investing for almost two years and has yet to see a loss in her investments.

Investing was kind of scary to me because even though I didn’t have money, I didn’t want to lose money when I did… start investing.”

Getting started was a challenge for Ariana, particularly learning how a platform works and understanding complex investor terminology. She used YouTube videos to understand investing concepts, their benefits, and risks. To learn about others’ experiences, Ariana looked to groups and/or communities on Reddit and Facebook.

She now considers herself in the “late beginner stages”  of acquiring investing knowledge. Ariana understands investing vehicles like Roth IRAs and online investing platforms, and familiarizes herself with different words and concepts. She hopes to take bigger risks in the future as she gains more knowledge.

Ariana continues to make investment decisions based on trial and error, using the same resources she started with in addition to friends’ recommendations, online research, and resources from her investing app of choice. She only invests what she is willing to lose. Ariana has currently taken a different approach since March, investing in various types of asset classes, which enable her to manage the levels of risk taken. However, while she tests this new approach, she chooses to deposit no more than $100 at a time, with the exception of $500 deposits in ETFs, feeling confident she will gain a return there.

I take everything with a grain of salt at the end of the day, [and] use my judgment to determine what stocks are right to buy for me at the moment.”

Opportunities Amidst Uncertainty

Her confidence has noticeably shifted, worrying less about politics, inflation, and company performance potentially impacting her investment strategy. This is exemplified by her view of market volatility, as she now considers downturns more of an opportunity than a concern. She uses market dips to buy stocks at lower prices and times her investments based on others’ advice.

The opportunities that I see in this situation would definitely be to get into stocks when they are at their lowest because that’s the true way to make money in this market.”

With this approach, Ariana received positive returns on her investments. Her investment portfolio balance now totals $1,650, showing progress with small gains. She continues to diversify her portfolio, investing in the S&P 500 and  in crypto, although she eventually closed her crypto account due to its volatility. She made a $200 profit after buying $3,000 worth of gold, seeing opportunities to fund physical assets in conjunction with other investments.

Her contributions have led to more gains. Ariana has made progress with her investment options such as her Roth IRA ($946) and a self-directed account ($352), and saw positive results in her other investing options (i.e., S&P 500, Invesco QQQ Trust, Amazon, and Nvidia).

Ariana feels confident about her investments as she contributes more and focuses on ETFs as a long-term strategy. She picked up extra work hours to increase her investment funds and adjusted her portfolio, aiming to invest $200 regularly. Since February, she has been using robo-advising and plans to switch to auto deposits eventually. She hopes to invest more in the near term, and ultimately open an IRA account for her daughter. Ariana is primarily focused on buying stocks that she believes will be popular in the coming years. 

It’s been a journey for me. I feel like I’m so confident.”

Diary Entry 1, March 2025

Building Confidence and Taking Risks

For close to two years, Ariana laid the foundation for her newfound investing confidence through practical experience. She first learned about investing through ads and apps on social media. Ariana then took the first steps toward diversifying her assets and building her portfolio. Each investment enabled her to take bigger risks and set more ambitious goals. Her plan is simple: expand assets in different places and grow them at different rates to generate additional income.

In the near future, she wants to pay off her car loan and hopes to buy a home. Ariana’s investment goals include building enough wealth to leave behind an inheritance that sets her child up for the future.

I want to set myself up for the future.”

Roadblocks Build Resilience

Ariana notes that politics, inflation, and current company performance are her biggest concerns in her investment strategy. Alongside these challenges, Ariana’s family is very cautious and risk averse, with no investing knowledge. “The people around me really don’t like to lose money, so they’re kind of against it [investing],” she says, “mainly because they don’t know enough about it.” Regardless of their concerns, Ariana is not deterred in her wealth-building pursuits.

The people around me really don’t like to lose money, so they’re kind of against it [investing] mainly because they don’t know enough about it.”

Education Makes a Difference

Growing up, Ariana did not have any exposure to financial education and no one in her family had been investing. She wishes there was more educational content to help non-investors better understand investing in the stock market, especially for beginners. “I wish there was…more knowledge, something to have people better understand investing instead of [saying] ‘you could make money,’ so people don’t have such a bad outlook.”

Ariana overcame barriers in knowledge by practical experience, reading books, engaging in social media communities, and consuming educational content on social platforms like Reddit and YouTube.

I wish there was…more knowledge, something to have people better understand investing instead of [saying] ‘you could make money,’ so people don’t have such a bad outlook.”