Other Retirement Facts:

What is GameStop and why has its stocks been all over the place lately? There have been a lot of opinions about this David vs. Goliath story, so we wanted to hear what Phil had to say about the situation.

Between the pandemic and the ever-evolving digital market, GameStop stores have been struggling and shutting down. Hedge fund managers then shorted the stock, which is a fairly common practice in the stock market. But then things turned upside down right before their deadline, forcing a short squeeze. At the end of the day, who wins?

What’s the problem in all of this? In the hype and chaos, some investors definitely got hurt. Some made out big, but others lost big. Is this the kind of investment you want to be a part of? Do you know what kind of risk you’re getting into if you jump in?

If you’re wanting to have some money to play with, should you? What’s the difference between this and gambling? How should you differentiate things like this from retirement investments?

Ultimately, you want to know about any investment and the risks at hand before jumping in. Reach out to an advisor to find out what fits in your financial plan. 

Listen to the entire episode or click on the timestamps below to skip ahead to a particular question.

1:19 – What happened with GameStop stock?

2:42 – What is shorting a stock?

3:44 – What was different about GameStop?

5:57 – Who is in the right and who is in the wrong?

8:09 – Was this a smart thing to do?

11:14 – Was this investing or gambling?

14:28 – What other companies has this happened to recently?

15:30 – Did the “little guys” win?

Thanks for listening! We’ll be back with another episode next week.

A Quotable Moment:

“If you wanted to play with some money, have a small account, play with it. Have fun, pick your stocks, do your research. If this is how you view entertainment, go for it. But don’t gamble and risk your retirement.”

-Phil Putney