Saturday, 9 January 2021

Awash with cash

Two-speed prosperity

Morgan Housel is always worth a read, and especially so this week.

See here (or click on the image below):

Housel's cracking book on the psychology of money is also a must-read.

A couple of the key takeaways were:

-understanding 'how much is enough' (instead of succumbing to greed); and

-understanding the power of compound growth to generate wealth and returns.

Because the big gains come later as a result of compounding, the winners are not necessarily those with the fastest annual returns, but those with the stomach to stick with successful strategies for the longest period of time.

It's why Buffett generated most of his wealth after the traditional retirement date.

And it's why the family home so often proves to the only genuinely successful investment many folks ever make.

Not because the returns are spectacular necessarily - often they aren't - but because it's the one asset people stick with long enough to experience the benefits of compounding. 

The problem with more volatile investments is often that investors bail when trouble surfaces, as it periodically does.