“That’s It, I’m Selling…”
That very thought flashed across your mind…
It had been a hellish week and he’s afraid… very afraid.
The gains you have so proudly held onto over the past two years… GONE.
Staring into the abyss, the stocks in his portfolio were all painted in fresh red… something you had never experienced before.
It was supposed to be your retirement fund, your savings…
And it would still be around if he not ventured into the stock market.
As you hover your mouse above the ‘sell’ button, your heart pounded, your stomach lurched and your hands turned sweaty…
You hesitated.
‘Should I… or should I not?’ you asked.
This was supposed to be your ‘BREAKTHROUGH’.
You had prayed for it to come, sometimes even blaming yourself for missing out some 10 years ago.
Yet when it finally came… it played out entirely differently than what was expected…
A guessing game.
‘Maybe I should sell now and buy back at the bottom…’
‘Darn. I entered too early…’
‘I should have sold earlier…’
‘WTF…’
Sound familiar?
TRUTH IS…
Our Brains Are Manipulated By The Media
Almost everyone feels the same way.
An emotional roller coaster…
Especially if this is the first time you tried to participate in a market crisis.
Buy low sell, sell high…
“To be greedy while others are fearful…”
But It’s not as straight forward…
Everyday we are bombarded by what the Fed is doing, how the market is reacting, of whether the world will be the same again.
Uncertainties…
…and so much guesswork.
Then you have gurus who said it’s time to buy, buy and buy…
And then, you have economist saying that the market is going to go down some more…
All the noises…
The stock market goes down one day…
And rebounds the next…
It’s anybody’s guess what could happen next.
But there’s a fundamental fact that one has to understand…
The world has always prevailed.
Wars, banking collapses, the dotcom bubble, the housing bubble, epidemics…
We, humans, have always prevailed…
What The Greatest Investors Are Doing…
When it comes to investing…
Our job, as investors, is simply about collecting great businesses.
The emotional roller coaster we are all feeling right now is because we are focusing on how much money we can make from investing during this crisis.
That greed drives irrationality.
And when we put in more than what we are comfortable with…
We are then gripped by fear…
The fear of losing everything…
Everything we’ve so tirelessly saved for so many years…
But that’s not what investing is…
It’s far away from it.
Think about this…
Just a month ago…
You were probably happy with a 10-15% return annually.
Today, you are expecting 100%, 200% or 300% returns after the crash rebounds…
What changed?
Our Crazy ‘Self-Sabotaging’ Expectations
Either we make it or you don’t…
But is that true?
With expectations, we are giving ourselves the unnecessary stress and pressure…
These often lead to bad investment decisions.
Look, we need to understand that nobody is competing who is going to get the highest returns in this epidemic, this crisis or the next.
Catching the bottom?
It’s not part of the curriculum of an investor isn’t it?
There are no trophies to be won, no medals, no vouchers, no ranking ladders.
In other words, everything should be the same…
It’s about accumulating and adding more quality businesses to your portfolio.
The only difference is, this time, we get to grab them at a discount.
That’s it.
Investing is all about business.
Know the true value of the company, then average down / up.
Since our goal is to accumulate as much of a great business as possible…
In times like this, it only makes sense to split our capital into tranches.
And as the market continues to drop…
We continue to collect a more ‘pieces’ of these quality businesses.
Bit by bit, piece by piece…
As it drops further, we buy them at greater discounts, greater value.
Simple as that.
Do that and at the end of this ordeal…
Our Portfolio Will Be Very Very Thankful
Yes, it is going to emotionally challenging…
But that’s just it.
It’s just another day in the stock market.
5 to 10 years on…
The stocks in the portfolio will compound… very handsomely
Don’t panic,
Apply rationality,
Shop for quality,
and buy at discount…
Together, we WILL prevail…