The Mindset of a Long-Term Investor
Iāve always thought in terms of decades.
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I remember reading "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki at 19 years old and obsessing over the lessons I learned.
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I would literally mention that book to every customer I met at work while working as a cashier at Sears.
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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.
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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.
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Iāve been fortunate enough to be surrounded by the right mentors, people who instilled a patient and long-term mentality within me.
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In my mind, a decent or significant return on investment over a 5 year period was lightning quick.
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So why should any young long-term investor care so much about the marketās recent downturn?
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Who cares, given youāre only going to sell in 30 years anyway if youāre truly long-term?
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If you are convicted and know VFV and XEQT will eventually be $200/share and $60/share, why bother checking the market every day?
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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).
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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.
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Here are my thoughts and mentality I journaled to myself about the marketās recent downturn:
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āI couldnāt care any less. Iāll do anything not to touch my portfolio because I know its growth rate will likely outpace anything else I would use the money for. Iāll market order myself in every pay, without timing the market. I believe in what Iām investing in, so Iāll allocate 40%ā70% of my paychecks at market highs or lows, it doesnāt matter. I wouldnāt even be aware of opportunities to average down if the market is below my average price per share, because I donāt check that often. Thereās no need. If I buy at a discount whenever I invest my paychecks, thatās good enough for me. My goal isnāt to be perfect by attempting to time the market; itās about being in the top 20% return after 30 years in the market, because thatāll be good enough and simplify my approach in the present moment.ā
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If youāre from the Montreal area, take a look at the link in my bio, letās connect!
