Losses can be tough to take but help is on hand from investing legends who’ve seen it all – and come out the other side.
Level: For beginners & advanced
Reading time: 3 minutes
Watching your portfolio fall in value is hard at times but it’s also as natural a part of the market cycle as a cruel winter. Thankfully, many investors have walked this path before us, and their wise words offer comfort and a guiding light when the world feels uncertain.
Here are a few of our favourite quotes that remind us that we’ll get through the downturn and that the good times will return.
“Invest for the long haul. Don’t get too greedy and don’t get too scared.”
Shelby M.C. Davis
2. Crises are normal
“If you’re going to invest in stocks for the long term, or real estate, of course, there are going to be periods when there's a lot of agony and other periods when there's a boom. I think you just have to learn to live through them.”
Charlie Munger
3. Downturns are moments of opportunity
“I've found that when the market's going down and you buy funds wisely, at some point in the future you will be happy.”
Peter Lynch
4. Your pain is understandable
“No matter how calm you are, no matter how long-term an investor you are, no matter what your horizons, when the market is jumping around, you feel uncertainty in your gut and it's hard to resist that.”
Peter Bernstein
5. Control your fear
“The most important lesson an investor can learn is to be dispassionate when confronted by unexpected and unfavourable outcomes.”
Peter Bernstein
6. Don’t go into your bunker
"The biggest risk of all is not taking one."
Mellody Hobson
7. Ignore the voices of doom
“It is always easiest to run with the herd; at times, it can take a deep reservoir of courage and conviction to stand apart from it. Yet distancing yourself from the crowd is an essential component of long-term investment success.”
Seth Klarman
8. The gloom will lift
“Your success in investing will depend in part on your character and guts and in part on your ability to realise, at the height of ebullience and the depth of despair alike, that this too, shall pass.”
John Bogle
9. Patience is a virtue
“The mantra is patience, patience and more patience. Think long-term and remember that the big rewards accrue with compound annual rates of return.”
Peter Cundill
10. Trust in your long-term plan
“The best way to measure your investing success is not by whether you’re beating the market but by whether you’ve put in place a financial plan and a behavioural discipline that are likely to get you where you want to go.”
Benjamin Graham
Bonus quote: inspiration from beyond investing for troubled times
“Some roses grow through concrete. Remember that.”
Brandi L. Bates
Our advice
It will be worth it: Stay strong, and stay true to your investing principles. The pain will pass and good things will follow. In the meantime, we’ll be with you every step of the way, cheering you on, and helping you to achieve your investing goals.
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