Marquita, 35, started her investing journey living in Texas with her young daughter. She recently shifted careers and moved to Florida. While she used to monitor her accounts once or twice a month, over the last 15 months she's increased this to weekly.
Transcript of Marquita's audio
I started investing in November 2023….I wanted my life to change. I wanted to be more productive when it came to my money, and I wanted to do something no one else in my family had done before. I want to see what kind of financial freedom investing could get me and my daughter.
Christian hopes to achieve financial freedom and retire at a younger age.
Marquita, 35, lives in Florida with her young daughter. As an Immigration Detention Officer, she carefully monitors her investment account once or twice a month. “I wanted to be more productive when it came to my money,” she says. “I wanted to do something no one else in my family had done before.”
Diary Entry 30, July 2026
Holding the Vision Through Change
Marquita’s investing journey has never been about quick wins. From the start, her goals were rooted in something deeper: building stability, freedom, and a legacy for her daughter. That vision remains unchanged, even as her circumstances continue to evolve.
Since her last diary entry, Marquita has navigated a career change and faced financial setbacks, all while sharpening her priorities and goals. What once centered on owning land and starting a small farm has evolved into a desire for long-term financial freedom. The shift in her current goals stems from her career change, which prompted her to take a closer look at her spending, saving, and investing habits—not as separate decisions, but as part of one interconnected financial picture.
I am going to invest a whole lot more. I’m not investing for the rest of my life, but the goal is a legacy for my family.”
Adapting Without Abandoning
Marquita continues to thoughtfully invest, even when life interrupts her progress. Marquita’s time spent on diversifying her portfolio has shifted sporadically throughout her journey, depending on her overall personal situation. Varying from up to 6 hours per week, she now checks her portfolio consistently 1-2 hours on average, partly due to a growth in confidence and trust, but also due to the stress of more recent financial emergencies.
When I think about diversifying I look at a lot of avenues: research, marketing, investment platforms, banks, real estate. I go really deep into research. I’m really trying to think about everything and different ways I can invest.”
Withdrawals, when they happen, are deliberate and necessity-driven. Over the past fifteen months, medical expenses and helping her mother with property taxes required her to withdraw and dip into funds she would have preferred to leave invested. These moments were deeply frustrating and saddening for Marquita, but they also reinforced the importance of liquidity and access, reminders that investing and emergency preparedness must work together.
It can be a little saddening at times, but even having the funds to withdraw made me feel better… because some people don’t have anything to withdraw. So I still feel blessed.”
Continued Trust
Over time and despite setbacks, Marquita has learned to trust both her knowledge and her instincts. What began as skepticism toward investment platforms has shifted into cautious trust, supported by clearer education tools, transparent information, and firsthand experience. She now considers herself an intermediate investor, with a working understanding of diversification, asset allocation, and risk across short- and long-term goals.
Strategically Flexible
Her approach is flexible and goal-based. While she previously balanced debt payments with saving and investing, often allocating 20–50% of her weekly income toward both short and long-term goals, her hours were cut at her job and Marquita faced the challenge of setting money aside to invest or paying for life’s necessities. When this shifted, she started putting away small amounts whenever she was able.
…financial difficulties in my life have made me allocate less money to different areas and more money to different areas. And so far it has paid off. But it just depends on what my life challenges bring about.”
Patience Earned Through Experience
Marquita remains optimistic about investing. Market volatility no longer deters her; she now expects it and sees downturns as learning opportunities rather than threats. While she wishes she could contribute more and diversify further, she recognizes that it is a temporary season. One shaped by her health, work transitions, and family responsibilities.
Her mindset reflects patience earned through experience— avoiding emotional investing, adjusting when life demands it, and trust that staying the course will pay off over time.
Looking to the Future
As Marquita looks to the future, her commitment to investing remains steady. Above all, she remains focused on leaving something meaningful behind for her family. Marquita’s story and perseverance is a prime illustration of goal-based investing and adjusting your approach when life circumstances abruptly change.
Diary Entry 2, June 2025
Persistence and Positivity Despite Life’s Circumstances
Marquita, 34, continues to focus on building wealth and attaining financial freedom in the long term, but life changes have prompted her to prioritize what’s most important—her health and day-to-day finances. She used to be more active in her investing apps, spending at least five to six hours a week diversifying her portfolio and researching best practices. With an upcoming move and recent job change, she now spends under an hour—a change that she recognizes will be temporary.
So right now I’m feeling unsure about [my] investments.”
Building Trust
Despite the new shift, she has come a long way in her investment journey. Initially excited about the prospects, Marquita jumped at the investment opportunity, starting within a week of learning how to invest. She was surprised by how easy it was to get started with her investment platform. Now that she has experience and is acquiring more knowledge, Marquita considers herself an intermediate investor with a better grasp of concepts such as stock diversification, as well as risk assessments for short and long-term investments.
While she was learning she found it difficult to trust investment platforms. She was skeptical of trusting others with her money, and it took some time to determine what information was trustworthy.
I kind of dragged my feet a little bit because in the back of my mind, I’m wondering whether or not I can trust the company…”
For Marquita, there is no definite way to know if she has enough information to make a good investment decision. She is a situational risk taker, meaning she only takes risks depending on how much capital she has. Marquita, similar to other new investors, sees risky investments as those that fluctuate frequently and lack a clear limit on potential losses.
Weighing options, she relies on her gut in addition to getting advice from someone she trusts. Marquita also uses online sources and reviews information on her accounts to guide her decisions.
I think you just have to go with your gut because there is no set, definite way of telling whether a stock is going to rise or is it going to plummet…but I do try to take the advice of someone who does have the knowledge.”
Her go-to investing app has helped build her trust in investing, for example helping her understand how compound interest works, and it also provides additional, straightforward resources such as support in filing taxes. As a result, she started trusting other financial platforms.
Setbacks Disrupt Progress
While her confidence and trust in the market grow, Marquita faces setbacks that disrupt her progress. Unfortunately, she needed surgery and was out on a short-term leave, which left her with medical expenses to pay for. At the same time, she faced other financial shocks and unexpected expenses, like paying down student debt and contributing to her mother’s property taxes. While she invested $2,000, Marquita was forced to withdraw $1,000 to pay bills. These changes are reflected in her balance with a sharp decline from $1,296 to $96 since February.
Marquita’s determination continues even through these barriers. She is back from medical leave and has opened other accounts in her investing app. While she is frustrated about not being able to invest as much money as she would like, Marquita hopes to put money into each of her portfolio sections to grow and manage them better.
I still feel like it’s a good opportunity.”
Positivity Brings Resilience
Her positive outlook is a testament to her resilience. She recently moved to a different state for a new job in a different field, added new portfolios to her investing account, and made withdrawals in preparation for the “big move.” She has not made any investment changes since, but hopes to do so in the future.
This determination also extends to her feelings about market volatility. She has experienced no financial or emotional impact from the shift in the market, nor is she concerned about the volatility because she anticipated it. Like several other investors living on low and moderate incomes, Marquita sees market downturns as an opportunity to buy stocks and invest at lower prices. She is currently choosing different individual stocks and is exploring ETFs, annuities, and REITs.
Regardless of the changes, Marquita continues with her strategy to rely on automated investments throughout the downturn while accepting and trusting her sources of information.
While Marquita is unsure of her investments at the moment, she continues on her path in the hopes that they will yield results in the future.
Diary Entry 1, March 2025
Dreams of Land and Legacy
Her goals stretch beyond a typical investment account. Each deposit brings her closer to a dream: a small farm where she and her daughter can build their future. But the path isn’t easy. When she first began investing, Marquita feared losing everything. With less than a year of investment experience, she’s learning as she goes. Tax implications puzzle her, and market movements prompt questions she’s still figuring out how to answer.
Despite her worries, Marquita finds confidence in watching others build wealth through investing. She is now more confident in her investment decisions—whether it leads to leaving a legacy behind or ensuring her daughter’s college education.
I started investing in November 2023….I wanted my life to change. I wanted to be more productive when it came to my money, and I wanted to do something no one else in my family had done before. I want to see what kind of financial freedom investing could get me and my daughter.”
When Life Interrupts Investing
The challenges of building wealth became stark recently when two emergencies hit simultaneously: she needed surgery, and her mother faced unexpected property taxes. Marquita had to withdraw $2,000 from her investment account.
“I was happy that I had the money available,” she reflects, watching her balance drop from $3,589 to $220. “But I still wish that I could have let that money stay in my investment account to be more productive. It was my only option.”
Compounding these hardships are student loans, which she had to defer while continuing her education, and a nearly $1,000 withdrawal for car maintenance. Marquita currently has $500 in her emergency savings—a significant decline from the usual $5,000–$10,000 she kept tucked away in her rainy-day fund.
Determination to Keep Going
Every piece of new information drives Marquita to make better-informed decisions. From watching financial influencers on social media to learning about new investing accounts for children, she is driven to learn more about the investing process and wants to make sure her daughter gains this knowledge as well.
Each month brings new deposits, when possible, and small steps toward that piece of Texas land she dreams of. While emergency expenses may slow her journey, they haven’t stopped her determination to create something lasting for her daughter.
Marquita’s Investment Accounts Balance
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