# The Stocks By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2023-10-02 Never count on stock options. They are a ploy to make one act a certain way. This may be to stay longer than one would otherwise or to reduce one's salary. Very rarely will the stock be life-changing. If it does, one has won the organizational lottery. Most businesses fail within five years, so taking stock instead of salary is a gamble. Furthermore, stocks can continuously be diluted as organizations inevitably seek more money to fund their failing venture. While some businesses will always require some amount of debt or investment to get going, most do not need to follow this path. The game is simple: make more than you spend. Are fancy offices necessary? Are full-time employees necessary? Often, the answer is no. Stocks are often pitched as sharing ownership of the business. Sometimes, this is true, but most often, the idea of ownership is greater than the reality. Stock options won't enable an employee to change the company's direction or fire the manager. They are an illusion of control and hope for a better future. Why not just take control and actualize one's better future? The financial industry wants one to believe that stocks and start-up funds are needed because that is how they make money. It's not how everyone else makes money. #### Related Items [[Work]] [[Stock Options]] [[Bonus]] [[Salary]] [[Ownership]] [[Self-Actualization]]