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. 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. It’s much better to consult a CPA and find out how much you should be paying each month or how much you should have taken out of your paycheck. And, with the taxes constantly changing, it’s good to do so yearly. 2.) You don’t have to invest with your money It’s easy to get stuck avoiding investing for one simple reason: most of us don’t have the money to risk on the market. That’s where prop trading comes in. Prop trading, in essence, lets you use a company’s money to trade on the stock market with. Then you keep a cut of the profits. There are plenty of options for different prop traders, but there’s a reason Try2BFunded is beloved by our users.. Not only is the profit split much more favorable than other companies— Try2BFunded lets you take home 60% while other companies were offering 20%—it also features an easy interface and straightforward process. 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.