Hi there,
Welcome to my new series on Personal Finance. This is our third post in the series and I covered the basics of personal finance in Series #1, followed by money-saving tips in the second post. Now, I would like to cover the investing side by quoting one of the greatest investors of all time... yes, I am talking about Warren Buffett, also known as the 'Oracle of Omaha'. Like many, I have followed Warren Buffett for a long time and we can all benefit from his investing advice below.
Patience is a virtue when it comes to investing: Warren Buffett famously said, "Someone is sitting in the shade of a tree today because someone planted it a long time ago." Haven't you had a jealous moment on a sunny hot day to see someone sitting behind the shade of the only tree in the park? We think how lucky that person is; well, we can be that person too if we plant a tree early on. It will take years (and decades sometimes) to grow that tree but once it gets there, watch out! That is the case with investing. We need to have a vision of what kind of future we want for ourselves, and then have the patience to stay the course until the goals are achieved. That is a great segway to my next point...
Invest in something that you truly believe in for the long haul: Warren Buffett was once asked about how long he usually likes to hold onto an investment before selling. His answer: "my favorite holding period is forever." This is key to long-term success; do the investment research upfront and get to know everything about that asset class, management team, market/industry dynamics, etc. Then invest with conviction and then just forget about it. Some say that 'Buy and Hold' strategy is old school, but that's how Warren Buffett made his billions and one cannot argue with success!
Keep some cash on the sidelines: yes, I know. Keeping cash in a bank account is not very glamourous, when it's earning 0.1% annual interest. But cash is still king when the investment world falls apart (and let me assure you that markets will crash from time to time). Some of Warren Buffet's best investments (via his investment company Berkshire Hathaway) were made during the financial crisis of 2007/2008 when solid stable businesses were selling at huge discounts because the markets crashed and nobody had 'dry powder' money to invest.
Smart investing is key to reaching your financial goals and I hope you found this article helpful. I will be sharing more information and advice on personal finance in the next series.
If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reply with your questions and I will try to help in any way that I can. Thanks for reading!
If you liked this article, please check out my previous posts below:
Personal Finance Series #2: Top Money-Saving Tips
Personal Finance Series #1: Money Management 101
If you are also interested in learning more about taxes, check out my tax series below:
Tax Series #10: Child Tax Credit
Tax Series #9: Standard Deduction vs. Itemized Deduction
Tax Series #8: Child Support vs. Alimony, and Why it Matters!
Tax Series #7: Top Tax Tips to Save Money
Tax Series #6: Tax Benefits for Students
Tax Series #5: Do you need to file an income tax return every year?
About the Author : I am a cryptocurrency enthusiast and a U.S. Certified Public Accountant with over 15 years of experience in accounting, taxation, and finance.
If you like this series, please follow me @qwesttexas. I am here to help the Steemit community with personal finance and tax questions, and break it down into simple steps so anyone can benefit from it. Steem On!