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There has never been a shortage of reasons not to invest. Yet despite all of this, businesses continued to innovate, economies expanded, and long-term investors continued building wealth.
The Investor Who Never Read the Headlines
“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”
— Warren Buffett
Imagine an investor who never read the headlines. Over the past century, that investor would have missed some terrifying news: major wars, presidential assassinations, pandemics, inflation, recessions and repeated stock-market crashes.
The United States endured 33 recessions, while its stock market experienced declines of more than 10% on more than 100 occasions. Stocks lost roughly a third of their value at least 12 times.
There has never been a shortage of reasons not to invest. Yet despite all of this, businesses continued to innovate, economies expanded, and long-term investors continued building wealth.
Perhaps the most telling statistic is that the number of forecasters who successfully predicted every recession effectively rounds to zero.
Trying to predict the next crisis may therefore be far less important than preparing yourself to remain invested through it. Warren Buffett understood this better than most.
When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos reportedly asked why everyone didn’t simply copy Buffett’s seemingly straightforward investment approach, Buffett’s response captured the problem perfectly: “Because nobody wants to get rich slowly.”
More than 99% of Buffett’s fortune was accumulated after his 50th birthday. His extraordinary wealth wasn’t simply the result of identifying great businesses. It was also the result of allowing those investments to compound for decades.
The greatest threat to long-term investment success is therefore often not the market. It is our reaction to it.
Every generation believes it faces unprecedented uncertainty. History tells a different story. Wars come and go. Recessions come and go. Markets fall and recover. The headlines focus on today’s uncertainty.
Patient investors participate in tomorrow’s progress. Perhaps Buffett was right all along: successful investing isn’t about reacting fastest. It’s about having the patience to stay the course.
Build a secure foundation for your financial future.
Name: Hansie Myburgh
Address: 14 Lelie Street, Northmead, Benoni, 1501
Contact Number: 071 471 2501 | 011 425 1318
Email Address: hansie.myburgh@sfpadvice.co.za
Succession Financial Planning Advisory Services
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