If I Started Investing in 2026, This is What I'd Do

About this video

Martell lays out five investment vehicles, opening with Ray Dalio’s warning that people who live by the crystal ball eat shattered glass — losers invest on trends, speculation, and emotion. First, index funds: at 26, a mentor told him to put half his earnings into a ‘stability bucket,’ and he dollar-cost averaged into low-cost index funds, citing John Bogle and Warren Buffett’s advice to put family money in index funds. He warns mutual fund fees can eat 40 to 50% of an investment’s value over a 25-year period. Second, real estate: he says he bought his first deal, a duplex, at 21 for around $121,000 with 5% down, and likes the BRRRR method (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat), cash flow, tax advantages, inflation hedging, and appreciation. Third, collectibles — cars, watches, art, wine, comic books — where he says you make money when you buy, not when you sell, and should learn from a mentor already doing it rather than buying new off the lot. Fourth, intellectual property: packaging what you know into books, courses, coaching, or licensing, which he says creators like Justin Welsh and Ali Abdaal use to make millions online. Fifth and best, invest in yourself: he says he invested $38,000 in one expert over a three-year period, has put $1.5 million plus into his own coaching and skills, and has paid consultants $30,000 for one hour. He urges ‘just in time’ learning over ‘just in case’ learning — study the top three to five books in the category that matters now.

Key takeaways

• Dollar-cost average into low-cost index funds as a set-and-forget ‘stability bucket’; he warns mutual fund fees can consume 40 to 50% of value over a 25-year period
• Real estate builds wealth multiple ways at once — cash flow, tax advantages, inflation hedge, and appreciation — especially via the BRRRR method (buy, rehab, rent, refinance, repeat)
• With collectibles, you make money when you buy, not when you sell: buy rare pieces below value with a mentor’s guidance, never brand-new off the lot
• Package your knowledge as intellectual property — books, courses, coaching, licensing — and use media for distribution to sell it
• Invest in yourself first: he says he spent $38,000 on one expert over three years and $1.5 million plus overall, favoring just-in-time learning of fundamentals over just-in-case ‘shelf help’

Episode details: published April 12, 2024 · 9:32 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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