Strategy

At the meeting last night, Jimmy was keen to have another list added to the blog, this one being about strategy for investing in the market.

1) Do not use the banks advice, use only a professional Financial Advisor.
2) Develop a long term approach, ignore what the markets are doing.
3) Remember that "Risk" is a four letter word and should never be used in the same sentence with the word investing.
4) Educate yourself.

Well, there's a list that has to be explained a bit, especially with the benefit of experience.

If you visit bank web sites, you'll see that they encourage investing, encourage tax planning and have a lot of resources available for investors. A lot of their information is well presented and should not be discounted when researching your investment decisions. I think the issue, with banks, unfortunately like Canadian doctors nowadays, is that they have little time for the small investor, so, if you go to your nearest bank and ask for advice, you'll find that after a brief question and answer period, you will be dovetailed into a strategy that "fits" your profile.

The same is true however with a financial advisor, and we wish you luck in finding a good one or someone who will recommend one. We here at the club have outgrown these people, usually after much pain, suffering and lacklustre performance.

The development of a long term approach is easier said than done with the emotions you will feel when you are investing your own money, so learn about yourself in the early years, there will be ups and downs, that is guaranteed, but keep track of everything and identify what works for you and stick with it, often flying in the face of what the market is "telling" you.

At the end of the day, be responsible for your own money by educating yourself, do not rely on banks, advisors, websites or blogs (like this) and understand risk and the effect of time on your hard earned money.