The mystery of money is prevalent among so many of us. It makes sense: many of us simply aren’t raised to understand money, finance, investing, the stock market and beyond. In high school we learn concepts that hardly apply to real life, but not how to do our taxes. Our employers hand us 50 page packets that explain what to expect from your 401k. Banks often give you the amount of attention you “deserve” based on your net worth. But, there are ways to educate yourself. Here are three investing secrets you need to know. 1.) Getting a tax refund is a bad thing. There’s certainly a thrill in getting a lump sum every March or April, but if you’re getting a fat tax refund you’re doing something wrong. Why? Because that money was always your money. The average tax return is around $3,000. That means that people are missing out on having $3,000 throughout the year. That’s $3,000 you could have earned interest on, invested with, paid down debt, or had as an emergency fund. What you’re doing instead is giving the government a free loan. By overpaying your taxes—because that’s all that a refund indicates if you’re above the poverty line—you’re letting the government hold onto your money until the end of the year. 2.) You don’t have to invest with your money The thing which holds many back from investing is straightforward: they don’t have the money to risk. But there are ways, like Prop Trading, to get around that. Try2BFunded is a premier Prop Trader with one of the best take-homes. Where some services offer 20%, Try2BFunded lets you access up to $100,000 and take home as much as 60% of your profits. Prove that you’re able to trade well, make it past the qualifying round, start making bank. All without touching your own savings account. 3.) Patience and diligence pay off Ok, this one is less of a secret, but it’s something everyone needs to hear. Don’t skip months where you match your 401k and max out your Roth IRA. Don’t panic during a recession and pull out all of your money—there’s a reason younger people can invest with greater risk. Time is on their side. Panic is what ends up ruining people’s financial futures. So keep it cool, keep it calm, keep it collected, and keep contributing.