What My First $50 Investment Taught Me — and How It Built My Whole Strategy
- Silivere Bakomeza
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
There’s a moment every long-term investor remembers.
Not the first thousand. Not even the first ten.
It’s that first investment — no matter how small — when your brain shifts from surviving to building. From hoping to owning. From watching the game… to playing it.
For me, that moment was $50.
That’s it.
I didn’t buy at the perfect time. I didn’t catch some meme stock or time a bull run.
But it changed everything.
It flipped a mental switch that’s never turned off since.
💡 A first $50 investment won’t make you rich overnight — but it’s how you start thinking like someone who will be.
I Wasn’t Born Into Money — I Was Born Into War
(The moment that shifted my mindset forever)
Let me give you the full picture.
I wasn’t raised with finance books on the table or investment advice at the dinner table.
I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and my earliest memories are tied to fleeing civil war and instability. I spent over a decade — from 1996 to 2008 — in Kiziba Refugee Camp in Rwanda. Life was survival. Food, water, safety. That’s it.
We weren’t dreaming of compounding returns or early retirement. We were dreaming of clean water and maybe one meal a day.
Even after being resettled in the U.S., it wasn’t like someone handed me a blueprint to build wealth. I drove buses. I worked long shifts. I picked up extra hours, learned about taxes, then dropped that path entirely.
There was no inheritance. No windfall. No “rich uncle.”
Just me, grinding — and searching for a way out that didn’t require selling my soul.
The Day I Bought My First Share
I’ll never forget it.
I had saved up a little bit of extra money — not much, just $50. But for once, I wasn’t behind on rent or food. I had breathing room.
And instead of spending that $50, I opened up a brokerage app and bought my first stock.
I didn’t time the market. I didn’t even know if it was a good pick. What mattered was I made the move.
That one click — hitting “Buy” — did something no paycheck ever had:
It gave me a sense of control.
That $50 Was a Line in the Sand
That small investment said something loud and clear:
“I am done renting my future.”
Up until that point, I was a bystander in the money game. Watching others win. Watching others own. Watching others retire free while I kept clocking in.
But that $50 made me a player. A participant. A builder.
It wasn’t about the return. It was about the shift.
And if you’ve never made your first investment, this post might be your moment too.
Most People Never Start — Here’s Why
Let’s be real.
Most people delay investing because of one of these excuses:
“I don’t have enough money yet.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“What if I lose it all?”
“I’ll start next year… when life settles down.”
But here’s the truth:
There is never enough money to start — until you start.
There is never a perfect time — until you look back and realize you missed it.
You will definitely make mistakes — but the real risk is not learning from them.
📊 According to a 2023 Vanguard study, 4 in 10 investors said their first investment was under $100 — and those who started younger had twice as much at retirement compared to those who delayed.
The game doesn’t reward those who wait.
It rewards those who stay in it long enough to let time + consistency do the work.
What That First $50 Actually Bought Me
It didn’t buy me a Lambo.
It didn’t buy me a hot stock pick or an overnight success.
But here’s what it did buy:
A system — I started automating $50 into my account.
A mindset — I stopped thinking like a consumer and started thinking like an owner.
A habit — I built investing into my weekly routine, no matter how tight things got.
That’s when the real transformation began.
From First Share to Strategy
That first $50 share wasn’t just an experiment.
It became the blueprint for everything I do now.
Over time, I realized that what mattered most wasn’t the company I picked — it was the system I committed to:
I kept my investments boring, consistent, and automated.
I didn’t chase trends — I chased ownership.
I built habits that didn’t rely on hype, timing, or emotion.
That single $50 move was the seed.
What grew from it was a strategy — one that I still follow today in my $50/day MSTR challenge.
That’s why this post isn’t just a memory.
It’s a map.
🧰 Starter Toolkit: Begin With What You Have
Here’s how I started — and what I’d still recommend today if you’re just beginning:
1. Open a beginner-friendly account:
No pressure. No hype. Just tools I personally used when I took that first step.
✅ Robinhood — Clean, simple UI. Great for getting started without feeling overwhelmed.
✅ Webull — More advanced features and charts once you get comfortable. Also offers free stocks when you sign up.
✅ Coinbase — Easiest way to start learning and stacking Bitcoin. They even pay you in crypto for learning.
I still use these today — and they’ve each helped me stay consistent in different ways.
2. Set your minimum
Even $5 a week is enough to shift your mindset from spending to ownership.
3. Automate it
Remove willpower from the process. Wealth isn’t built on motivation — it’s built on systems you can stick with.
Real Math: $50 vs $500,000
Let’s say you invest just $50/week — that same small start — into an index fund averaging 10% annually.
Here’s what happens:
After 1 year: ~$2,750
After 5 years: ~$17,000
After 10 years: ~$34,000
After 20 years: ~$140,000
After 30 years: $500,000+
That’s from just $50/week.
No raise. No bonus. No side hustle.
Now imagine what happens when you level up — or reinvest dividends — or build multiple streams.
My Current Strategy: $50/Day into MSTR
Today, I’ve taken that same idea and gone all-in.
I invest $50/day into MicroStrategy (MSTR) — a company deeply tied to Bitcoin, with asymmetric upside.
Every market day. Whether the stock is up, down, or sideways — I buy.
You can read the full blueprint here:
Why MSTR? Because its Bitcoin exposure wrapped inside a tech company with limited float and explosive potential. It’s like owning BTC… with leverage.
And I document every week of the journey on my blog, so there’s no hiding.
💥 Quote That Changed My Life
“That $50 didn’t change my net worth — it changed my trajectory.”
— BakoExperience
The Psychology Behind That First Move
Here’s something most people miss:
Your first investment rewires your identity.
You stop saying:
“I want to be rich one day…”
And start saying:
“I’m already building wealth now.”
It’s subtle but powerful.
Because once you start identifying as an investor, your brain begins making different choices.
You skip the impulse purchases. You start tracking your net worth. You start reading instead of scrolling.
You start moving like someone who knows they’re going to win — even if it takes years.
What I’d Tell My Younger Self
If I could go back and talk to the version of me hesitating on that $50, I’d say:
“Don’t wait for more. Start with less — and never stop.”
The people who win in this game aren’t the ones with the best timing.
They’re the ones with the longest commitment.
What If You’re Still Broke?
You’re not alone.
I didn’t start investing when life was comfortable. I started because life wasn’t.
You don’t need $5,000 to get started. You need discipline and a plan.
Start here:
Recap: What My First $50 Taught Me
You don’t need permission to build wealth.
The amount doesn’t matter — the mindset does.
Small consistent moves beat big delayed ones.
Your first $50 is the seed. Your discipline is the water.
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🧾 Affiliate Disclosure:
Some links in this post are affiliate links. That means if you sign up, I may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I use myself. No hype. No fluff. Just what works.
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