So, you’ve decided to become a long-term investor. But, what are the actual benefits you stand to gain from an investment strategy that focuses on your returns in years rather than days or months?
Avoid the bumps
Over short timescales, like days and weeks, financial markets are typically unpredictable and illogical. Even the highest-paid professionals can’t say with any certainty what’s going to happen to markets tomorrow – and if they could, they’d be retired already. But, as a long-term investor you’re focused on your annual returns compounding over many years. You can mostly ignore the short-term blips, as over time, they won’t matter.
Hit the sales
Dips in the financial markets like those seen after the UK Referendum are a long-term investor’s equivalent of a Black Friday sale. Since you’re planning on holding investments for years, buying stocks and shares at a cheaper price is an opportunity to increase your long-term profitability, since prices often bounce back, and sometimes quickly.
Increase your chances of a better return
The longer you invest, the more likely you are to enjoy higher returns from your investments than from your cash savings. History suggests that people investing during any 10-year period since 1984 in the FTSE 100 index had an 88%† chance of making a positive return on their money.
Enjoy the power of compounding
As a long-term investor, you stand to benefit from something Einstein called ‘the most powerful force in the universe’ – not gravity, but compound interest. Billionaire, Warren Buffett, one of the most successful investors of all-time, claims compound interest is the single most powerful factor behind his investing success. Earning interest on your interest as well as your original investment can make a huge difference over time, particularly if you’re adding even small amounts to it regularly.
Take someone who wants to save regularly to supplement their pension, as an example. If they begin investing £100/m at the start of their career, after 45 years they could have as much as £150k to put towards retirement1. That’s the effect of compounding.
If there’s a moral to all of this, it’s that you should think long-term. Just take the last major financial crisis as an example. Someone investing in the FTSE 100 in late 2007 would have, shortly afterwards, suffered one of the most severe investment declines in history. But if they held their nerve, 8 years on they’d now be enjoying a 50% profit on their original investment.
Investing doesn’t have to be hard work. If you are a long-term investor, just have a game-plan, trust the power of compounding and leave the rest to the experts.
Please remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns and with investing comes risk. Your investments could go down as well as up and you may get back less than you put in.
† Bloomberg Data
1 Predicted value of £150,668 based on an account opened with £250 and paying in 100/m investing for 45 years on a medium risk (Confident) plan. If markets perform worse, you could end up with £88,041. If markets perform better, you could end up with £272,669. Values correct as of 10/05/2019.
