Investing is a lot like dating. There are no quick fix solutions to either conserve and save your 'moneys' or your 'honeys'. Diligence and trust in your own decisions is the key to managing both to your own satisfaction.
Here is how you can learn to manage the 'moneys' and the 'honeys' early on in life. Read on to know more.
Relationships and the bean-stock
You can be reasonably assured that your investments will grow in value once in the Indian stock market. However, such a claim can only be made in the long term, which means about 5 years or more. In the long term, you can expect an average yearly rate of return of around 12-13 per cent.
It might go up or down by a percentage point, for the stock market, if one is to assume that the past decades are similar to the ones to follow.
Just like with dating, you start off slowly. The growth is slow in the initial periods, but over time the money starts to compound. Like a good relationship, it will snowball with time, so wait and watch the magic that is compounding.
Nothing worthwhile is cooked in 2 minutes
Most good things in life are not 'instant' solutions. While investing sensibly, actions and outcomes do not strictly follow a cause-effect relationship. It takes time to obtain attractive and sustained results.
There is no need to fret about your stock losing a few points over some weeks, and more importantly, it's not advisable to abandon ship. Subscribe to long term and not just short-term goals. There is just no substitute for patience in the markets. More often than not, the last man standing wins.
Like in dating, do not go all out on the first date. Lasting impressions are made over time.
Stick it through the occasional lows and be patient. There's no quick fix solution to establishing trust, and it does require patience. The great part is, the results are worth the wait. The kind of comfort and compassion developed over time, going through thick and thin can't find a substitute.
Stocks have mood swings too
This is something that takes most new investors by storm. That is the quirky unpredictability of the stock prices. These rapid changes are referred to as volatility. It is an indication of how much a stock's price happens to go up or down in a day.
Volatility depends on the industry your stock is from. Technology stocks usually have high volatility, while certain cement companies, or housing enterprise stocks have low volatility.
In a matter of a few days or weeks, a volatile stock might go up or down by even up to 50 per cent. The key to surviving this is to be informed about trends in the industry and the company. Most often, there isn't a need to urgently sell the stocks in case one has understood the cause of the change.
Volatility is inevitable with certain stocks. The point is to have enough faith in the company, based not just on your gut but also on some sound research. Many strong business houses have had volatile stocks, but anyone standing by the stock for about five years or more has made a handsome profit.
It's probably true that moody people are the most fun to hang out with. There are frequent highs and lows, but in the long run, it all pans out fairly well. The key is to understand the person and his/her mood well. Once this bit is taken care of, these people can make you feel on top of the world.
It's all right losing the battle, if you win the war
Where do you think the money made in profit at the stock market comes from?
More often than not, it's from someone else's loss. And sooner rather than later, expect that someone to be you. And this is not just applicable to amateur investors; it happens to the best in the trade a number of times.
The more informed you are, the fewer losses you'll probably end up having, but a few losses just cannot be avoided.
Make sure your stock is invested in multiple companies and not just 2 or 3, in order to minimise the risk. For example, if you own stock in 10 companies, and even 4 of these investments happen to do poorly at the markets, you can still more than make up for the loss by the money made in the remaining companies.
You cannot possibly hit it off with every guy/girl you happen to meet on a date. So it initially makes sense to get acquainted with quite a few people so as to increase the chances of hitting it off with one of them at least. This one success will more than make up for the time, energy and money wasted getting to know the other people, with whom it didn't work out.
There is gossip even in the markets
Unfortunately, there is no prescribed right or wrong way to invest in the markets.
Hordes of people will offer you loads of advice. It's like asking someone how the Indian cricket team should be run. Everyone has an opinion. It's all right to be confused, if you seriously start to learn about investing. You'll run across people giving you conflicting advice.
Quite a few people think it wise to invest their long-term money in stocks; some others prefer to have cash in hand, to invest substantially when opportunity arises. A few people think it unwise to purchase more than a stipulated number of shares if the stock price is falling. While conventional logic will tell you that there is indeed no better time to buy your stock.
It's all right to get these knowledge bites from people, but it should not faze one. Go about your investments, incorporating what you feel is appropriate at the time. Get your own logic and gut working for you, and it will last you in good stead.
It's almost impossible that everyone you know likes the person you are dating. It's just against human nature; it's near impossible.
So whose viewpoints do you accept? Or do you go with your judgment of the person, and support it at times with what you have heard of him/her from other people?
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