A lot of people have been talking about selling their shares recently due to the plummeting market values. Large drops are a part of investing though. You need to be in it for the long term or you may miss out on […..]
The markets are efficient until they are not
Down markets need larger returns to return to the starting point
Many of us are too heavily invested in shares, but won’t realise it until it’s too late. We will get scared and panic sell. A common reason for this surprise reaction is our inability to perform basic maths.
A common miscalculation is that if stocks go down 30% then that is fine. They only need to go back up 30% and I’ll be back to break even. This isn’t […..]
It's simple. I'll just buy back in when the markets recover
How to deal with a volatile share market
Investing over returns
I often see new investors chasing returns from their investments, either taking on more risk than comfortable with, or not getting good returns for the level of risk they are taking on.
I think there is too much focus on returns.
How much someone ends up with in their investments account is a combination of two things […..]
Should I sell my shares?
Hot stocks for the new year
For the last three years, the NZ Herald has asked approximately seven investment firms for their stocks predictions for the year ahead. Each firm picks five companies they think will perform the best and the Herald publishes their picks. Here is a link to the 2019 picks.
So, how did they do […..]
Did your fund manager win this year? Who cares?
Why Sharesies is no good for beginners
A recession is coming
Hold on to your hats people, an economic recession is coming. Unemployment will rise. House prices will fall. Stock markets will crash.
The results of an economic recession can be devastating. Especially to those who have yet to experience one. The last one was in 2007-08.
That means there are a whole lot of people under the age of 35 that may have not experienced a recession in their working (earning income) lifetime […..]
Lowest cost index funds are not always the best
Stock index funds are all the rage these days. They occupy about 20% of the global market and this amount is increasing every year. The main driver of the conversion of investors from active to passive stems from the fact that many active funds (after fees) are delivering worse results than passive index funds.[…..]
Index fund returns are far from average
Index fund investing can offer good results for two reasons. Low costs can save you hundreds of thousands over the long term and index funds tend to perform better than actively managed funds over the long term. Better performance at […..]
Dollar cost average or lump sum?
Most of the time, index fund investors will invest at regular intervals, such as weekly or monthly. Occasionally though, we may be lucky enough to come across some extra money. This may be from the sale of a house, or maybe you are thinking about starting to invest.
Naturally, this leads to one of the most common investing questions. Should I invest it all at once (lump sum), or spread the contributions out over a longer period of time (dollar cost average)?
Hot stocks for the new year
For the last two years, the NZ Herald has asked approximately seven investment firms for their stocks predictions for the year ahead. Each firm picks five companies they think will perform the best and the Herald publishes their picks. Here is a link to the 2018 picks.
So, how did they do?
When is a dollar not a dollar?
Beginners guide to investing part 14: Staying the course
With the rapid rise of smartphones and the internet, we are inundated with information on a daily basis. This is both a blessing and a curse.
Readily accessible information is fantastic to discover new information that will improve our lives. The problem is that we are easily distracted. I am anyway. I’m sure I’m not the only one? Echo, echo, echo.
These distractions take us away from the valuable information we should be paying attention to and […..]
Beginners guide to investing part 13: The impact of inflation and fees on returns
Beginners guide to investing part 12: Running the numbers
Whether you are a buy and hold investor, or a buy and sell investor you will still be interested in reviewing your stocks. It is not as simple as it first appears.
We will often receive an annual report from our stock broker or online provider of how your stocks have done that year. 5%, 9%, 2%, -5% and so on. So, if our stocks over 10 years have returned 70% in total, that is 7% per annum right? WRONG. […..]
