The Mindset of a Long-Term Investor
I’ve always thought in terms of decades.
I remember reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki at 19 years old and obsessing over the lessons I learned.
I would literally mention that book to every customer I met at work while working as a cashier at Sears.
The things I started to aspire for (a high net worth, a wealthy social circle, an exciting lifestyle, the ability to pick and choose what I want, etc.) were all owned or being lived by people with gray hair, meaning I knew that achieving all of this would take time, decades.
That was okay, because I was still a teenager with decades of investment time horizon ahead of me, plus I was willing to put in the work.
I’ve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by the right mentors, people who instilled a patient and long-term mentality within me.
In my mind, a decent or significant return on investment over a 5 year period was lightning quick.
So why should any young long-term investor care so much about the market’s recent downturn?
Who cares, given you’re only going to sell in 30 years anyway if you’re truly long-term?
If you are convicted and know VFV and XEQT will eventually be $200/share and $60/share, why bother checking the market every day?
These are the behavioral traps I used to fall into before developing the necessary conviction to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the battle-tested and proven S&P 500 (VFV and/or XEQT).
Investing (not gambling or trading) done right is investing money you can afford to lose in something that has proven itself to make you money over a long period of time.
Here are my thoughts and mentality I journaled to myself about the market’s recent downturn:
“I couldn’t care any less. I’ll do anything not to touch my portfolio because I know its growth rate will likely outpace anything else I would use the money for. I’ll market order myself in every pay, without timing the market. I believe in what I’m investing in, so I’ll allocate 40%–70% of my paychecks at market highs or lows, it doesn’t matter. I wouldn’t even be aware of opportunities to average down if the market is below my average price per share, because I don’t check that often. There’s no need. If I buy at a discount whenever I invest my paychecks, that’s good enough for me. My goal isn’t to be perfect by attempting to time the market; it’s about being in the top 20% return after 30 years in the market, because that’ll be good enough and simplify my approach in the present moment.”
If you’re from the Montreal area, take a look at the link in my bio, let’s connect!
