There’s a saying in Chinese, 大钱赢小钱.
Interpretation: you generate a return that is a portion of your capital.
Some investors want to make a lot of money with little money 小钱赢大钱. It causes them to fall into scams or to take excessive leverage. They believe that one big bet is going to make their fortune. Too bad, there’s no shortcut.
The right mindset: a sustainable return is often only a portion of your capital (10% or 20% etc). It is possible you make more than your capital in good years. But it is foolish to believe it always happens.
What if someone has no capital and no time? Studies have shown that poorer people buy lotteries. The empathetic me doesn’t blame them because the lottery ticket is a convenient way out of their money problems. But the objective me believes that most would end up with less money.
The less capital one has, the more careful the person has to protect it. It is not helpful to think that one has little to lose because it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Growing a small capital sustainably is better than gambling it away.
A small capital can snowball into something bigger. But it will take time. A portion gained each time, and each portion spawns another portion. Portion by portion, it multiplies overtime. Gradually, then suddenly.