What I'd Do With $100,000: Invest in Education First

A viewer asked how I would allocate $100,000 between stocks and cash for selling puts. I did not give him a percentage. In that 2021 conversation, I said that if $100,000 were all I had available to invest, I would first spend on learning how to make better decisions and earn more. That was my answer to his hypothetical, not a portfolio allocation for someone else.

“If you knew better you'd do better.”

Why I put learning first

I had made that choice for myself. When I lacked knowledge, working harder in the wrong direction could leave me worse off: I would first have to undo mistakes before making progress. Learning the basics and the best practices of a field gave the effort somewhere useful to go.

By education, I did not name one school, course, or credential in the answer. The question for me was what I needed to understand before risking money or making a larger commitment. I want to learn enough to recognize a sound opportunity, see the costs, and know when I need someone with more experience.

That does not mean education automatically produces a financial return or that anyone should spend their entire savings on it. I was explaining what I would prioritize under the conditions the viewer gave. A person deciding what to do with real money has to account for their own obligations, risk, and choices.

Effort needs direction

I described a person who works hard but heads the wrong way. More speed does not fix the direction. The first job is to notice what is wrong, learn a better method, and then repeat the useful work long enough for it to matter. I discuss the broader choice between formal study and guidance from experienced people in building skills for long-term success.

Later in the session, someone thanked me and spoke dramatically about what he would do for his group. I told him that taking his future seriously and working hard mattered more than a grand gesture. One of the most satisfying parts of mentoring for me is seeing someone become better than I was. A good mentor should help a person avoid mistakes and move beyond the mentor's own level, not simply imitate it. I go further into that idea in what a mentor's mistakes can teach.

My 2021 answer did not resolve which stock to buy or whether to sell puts. It put a prior question on the table: what do I need to learn to make that decision well?