- You are here:
- Home »
- Blog »
- 3rd Guide - Building Money Making Portfolios »
- How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success is a comprehensive guide to help investors make important portfolio-building decisions that ensure long-term success. It explores successful investment strategies and emphasizes the importance of making informed choices among the many investment options. The lesson is suitable for beginners and experienced investors, providing thorough coverage of practical topics such as making informed decisions, mastering essential investment skills, and understanding how to grow wealth through a deeper understanding of markets and money management.
What You Learn: In How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
This Key investing success lesson opens the Choices To Make Money Work course, focusing on practical decisions and skills that successful investors use. As well, this course outline and lesson overviews tell you what to expect from this course with a link to each lesson.
FAQs Investors Asked About How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
These questions and answers about the key investing choices overlap in their insights, helping investors better understand how stock markets, investing strategies, and money-making interrelate. The following generalized answers can vary depending on individual circumstances and priorities.
What are the investment choices?
Primarily, the big three investment choices are stocks, bonds, and cash. Additionally, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are popular among investors.
Beyond these, real estate, precious metals, other commodities, and private equity are also viable options. For those interested in more advanced strategies, options provide even further possibilities.
However, thorough research is required to select the best investments for your specific circumstances. By carefully evaluating the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of each option, you can build a strong foundation of knowledge. This will enable you to make well-informed decisions, setting you up for a lifetime of solid investment returns.
Ultimately, combining knowledge with sound decision-making is what separates exceptional investors from the rest, ensuring that you make the best choice for your individual financial situation.
What are the keys to investment success?
First and foremost, investing in knowledge is crucial. Educating yourself on markets, investments, and the behavior of successful investors lays the foundation for smart decision-making.
By cultivating your investor mindset and adopting the lifestyle choices of an investor, you can ensure financial security and success. In addition, taking a long-term view and reinvesting your returns will compound your financial growth over time.
Understanding and managing your risk tolerance is another key element, as this will help you tailor your investment decisions to your specific circumstances. Using Smart Diversification provides an additional layer of security.
Additionally, it’s important to make monitoring and reviewing your investments a regular part of your investor lifestyle. Staying current, continuously growing your knowledge, and taking necessary actions will ensure long-term financial security.
When should an investor sell?
Generally speaking, selling is more suited for traders, as real investors in productive assets typically aim to let their profits grow over time. Selling too early can limit your gains, which is why patient investors tend to become the wealthiest. They accumulate wealth by spending more time in the market, remaining invested in quality assets.
On the other hand, early selling is a form of impatience that restricts wealth-building opportunities. Instead, wise investors continue riding their winners, which consistently pay dividends.
For stocks that aren’t paying dividends, investors sell them as soon as possible. This ensures they only hold onto winners, steadily collecting dividends and growing richer over time. Additionally, long-term investors avoid acting based on rumors, opinions, or fear. Instead, they wait for concrete facts before making any decisions.
A real investor in productive assets never wants to sell but acts to let profits grow. Selling early limits gains. That is why patient investors are the rich ones. They build wealth with more time in the market – by staying invested.
At what percent loss should I sell?
While traders often exit bad trades quickly, long-term investors who hold quality dividend-paying stocks tend to ride out the turbulence since these stocks typically recover and continue paying.
Successful traders, however, often use two loss-limiting strategies to protect their capital: a trade loss limit and a portfolio loss limit. To safeguard their positions, successful traders usually set a loss limit between 4% and 8%, with 6% being the most common choice. Whenever the limit is reached, they sell without hesitation.
Additionally, traders set portfolio loss limits, stopping all trading if a portfolio limit (e.g., 6%) is hit in any given month. However, wise traders don’t wait to hit a limit but sell when they realize a trade isn’t working, regardless of how close they are to the loss limit.
Should investors sell to take profits?
The answer largely depends on your investment goals. To build wealth, informed investors sell underperforming assets and patiently hold onto productive winners.
Impatient investors or traders are more likely to sell early. If a stock is performing well, long-term investors should keep it. Over time, owners of productive assets that generate income and capital gains are the ones who consistently grow their wealth.
Even during market downturns, productive asset holders generally experience steady wealth accumulation, as these downturns eventually pass. In contrast, trading requires significant knowledge, time, and skill, particularly in markets with strong upward movement. However, trading is less effective in sideways markets, and short-sellers see little benefit in down markets.
What investment advice has Warren Buffett shared?
Warren Buffett’s wisdom, shared in his annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters, provides practical and relevant insights. Some of his most notable advice includes the following:
1) Investing is simple but not easy—it requires knowledge, action, and patience; 2) Buying stocks and investing should be viewed as a business; 3) Shareholders should think like business owners; 4) Limited diversification can concentrate investment power; 5) Before investing, always do thorough research; 6) Invest for the long-term and avoid trading in and out; 7) Economic and business fundamentals are what truly matter, not the stock market;8) Investing psychology affects markets, but facts help manage emotions; 9) Growth and bottom lines are important—ignore forecasts; 10) Careful research uncovers valuable investment opportunities.
Empower Yourself And Your Long-Term Investment Choices by Controlling Your Investment Success Factors
Investment success includes several principles and practices that can help you build and manage a successful portfolio:
Clear Goals:
First setting clear goals is essential; these goals, such as retirement, home buying, or funding education, will shape your investment strategy and give you a sense of accomplishment as you work toward them.
Smart Diversification:
Next, Smart Diversification puts the investor’s circumstances at the center of their investment plan to tailor diversification across asset classes and sectors, while matching their investor risk tolerance and financial goals while reducing risk with increased growth opportunities
Risk Tolerance:
Understanding your risk tolerance is crucial for making informed decisions.
Saving and Investing:
Additionally, regular contributions and reinvesting returns compound growth for maximum success, while maintaining a long-term view helps avoid impulsive decisions based on short-term volatility.
Long-Term View:
Investing as a long-term lifestyle choice avoids impulsive decisions based on short-term market volatility, which consistently produces the best wealth-building outcomes.
Cost Management:
Investment fees and expenses significantly impact returns, which is why low-cost ETFs double the returns of high-cost mutual funds. Well-managed costs = higher returns.
Stay Informed:
Continuous learners who are aware of market trends, economic indicators, and news affecting investments make the best investment decisions.
Monitor, Review, and Adjust:
Savvy investors know that the economy, markets, investments, personal circumstances, and goals all change. When needed, they adjust to ensure investments align with goals, risk tolerance, and circumstances.
Tax Efficiency:
Wherever they live, wise investors use tax-advantaged accounts for maximized tax-efficient returns.
Manage Emotions:
Follow your long-term investment plan to avoid emotional fear or greed-driven decisions influenced by volatility or short-term market behavior.
Seek Qualified Advice:
When unsure, seek knowledgeable, qualified, experienced advice. Fee-only advisors can efficiently tailor an investment strategy to your needs and circumstances.
Patience and Discipline:
Successful investing requires patience and discipline to stay committed to your strategy and give it time to work.
Long-Term Investment Choices Include Warren Buffett’s Timeless Investment Wisdom
With decades of proven success, Warren Buffett’s approach to investing offers timeless wisdom that benefits both novice and seasoned investors. For example, Buffett advocates for a long-term vision, encouraging investors to hold onto quality investments through market fluctuations, reminding us that wealth builds over time.
At the core of the Buffet strategy is value investing. Buffett focuses on undervalued companies with strong fundamentals and holds them until their true worth is recognized. Moreover, he emphasizes the importance of investing in what you understand, urging investors to stay within their circle of competence to avoid costly mistakes.
Additionally, patience and discipline are central to the Buffet philosophy, as he avoids short-term market noise and relies on the power of compounding. Furthermore, his margin of safety principle encourages purchasing assets at a discount, providing protection during downturns.
Equally important, Buffett focuses on quality businesses with enduring competitive advantages and advises against market timing, favoring a buy-and-hold approach instead.
In summary, Warren Buffett’s investment principles provide a simple yet profound blueprint for long-term success, accessible to all investors. By embracing long-term vision, value investing, and disciplined decision-making, investors of all levels can confidently navigate the market’s complexities and achieve their financial goals.
Buffett famously said, “The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient.” These principles, while profound, are not complex, making them accessible and applicable to all investors.
Consider The Long-Term Investment Choices Advice Offered by Warren Buffett
Investing, the simple hard business
Frist, over many years Warren Buffett has shared his thinking in the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters. The letters are an excellent collection of business and investment advice. In them, an often repeated point, investing is simple but not easy. Investing well takes the knowledge, discipline, and patience. As well he encourages making the effort needed to do the necessary research. To buy productive assets well also means knowing their value. In addition, investors must know that there is a positive outlook for their value to grow. He regularly reminds us that patience is Included with the long-term perspective.
The business of owning companies to make money
Additionally, Warren Buffett views buying stocks as a business. He sees shareholders as part owners of each business or share bought. We too can adopt the approach Warren Buffett when we buy stock. Like him, as stock market investors we can also see ourselves in the business of making money work for us.
Diversification
Moreover, diversification is important for investment success. But he has a diversification caution. Too much diversification can be a bad thing. Warren Buffett urges investors to intelligently diversify to spread risk. But not to diversify to the point of diluting the ability of a winning investment to build wealth. We must hold positions that can significantly increase our wealth. To do that, we keep out investments concentrated in a relatively small number of companies. That makes our portfolio a better wealth builder for us.
Research
Furthermore, Warren Buffett is a great believer in research. And he especially believes in doing the investment homework. That is necessary to finding good prospective investments. And that investor research means digging into each business. That lets us develop an understanding of the company. It also makes us knowledgeable about the industry, and opportunities for growth. And that research must happen before we invest. To invest like Warren Buffett we only buy good companies with excellent long-term prospects.
Long term view
Next, as for the time frame, Warren Buffett supports the idea of investing forever. He always recommends against trading in and out of a stock. One result of that is ignoring the trading signs and signals. That keeps us focused on business fundamentals and bottom-line growth. By having a focus on the economics of the company, and not the market, we build value. And that business opportunity focus keeps us away from stock market noise. In fact, Warren Buffett is well know for paying little attention to the stock market. He does not care what stock market traders think or may be doing. However, that does not mean never trading. As well, if things change, we quickly sell a company with poor or limited prospects.
Patient calm psychology
In addition, there is no sure thing. Especially in the stock market. But a patient calm approach keeps the positive probabilities as a most likely outcome. Most notably when long-term investing. Warren Buffett is also aware of and understands investing psychology. The psychological mindset of successful investors manages emotions. Mature successful investors keep their focus on economic issues and making rational decisions supported by facts. That approach keeps emotional thinking and decisions out of the investment mix.
Noise control
Finally, Warren Buffett is also well known for ignoring stock market forecasts. The market has and always will continue to regularly develop and progress. By far, most of the progress is positive. Although, doomsayers are many, they are seldom right. So we do the sensible thing and ignore them. But we are not eternally optimistic. Instead, wise investors consider both optimistic and pessimistic outlooks as opinions. They add no value. Rather, real growth and bottom lines do deliver value for investors. We stick to the facts.
Digging for treasure
Through careful research, Warren Buffett digs through the market and economy to find excellent investment opportunities. He suggests we also carefully research. As well he advising patient waiting to find the best investment opportunities. With careful research done, he acts infrequently and deliberately when opportunities are found. But when opportunities do present themselves, he moves fast.
Why Investors Should Sell!
One of investors’ most common questions is knowing when to sell and take profits. While the answer can vary based on individual goals and market conditions, some general guidelines can help determine the right time to sell. Here are some key considerations:
Achieving Financial Goals
First, selling when your investment has reached a specific financial goal or target price might be wise. For example, if you invested in stocks to fund a large purchase, like a home, or to pay for a child’s education, selling when you reach your goal can be wise.
Fundamental Changes in the Investment
Next, sometimes, changes in the company’s fundamentals or market conditions can signal that it’s time to sell. If the company’s performance is declining, with decreasing earnings or revenue, it might be time to reevaluate your position. Additionally, broader market or economic changes negatively affecting the investment are essential factors to consider.
Overvaluation
Additionally, if a stock’s price has significantly outpaced its earnings and appears overvalued compared to its historical average or peers, it might be prudent to take profits. That can be especially true if the investment has gained value quickly due to market hype rather than solid fundamentals.
Portfolio Adjustments
Moreover, maintaining a balanced and diversified portfolio is crucial for managing risk. If an investment has grown to represent too large a portion of your portfolio, selling some shares can help restore balance once the run to higher prices is over. Portfolio adjustments ensure you don’t have too much exposure to any asset, reducing overall risk.
Life Changes
Furthermore, significant life events such as retirement, a medical emergency, or buying a house might necessitate liquidating some investments. Additionally, changes in your personal risk tolerance may prompt you to adjust your investment strategy, including selling certain assets.
Tax Considerations
Likewise, tax implications are another critical factor in deciding when to sell. Strategies like tax-loss harvesting, where you sell investments at a loss to offset gains and reduce taxable income, can be beneficial. Timing the sale of assets to optimize tax benefits, such as holding investments for over a year to benefit from lower long-term capital gains tax rates, is also essential.
Better Opportunities
Additionally, if you identify a better investment opportunity with higher potential returns, it might make sense to sell a current investment to free up capital. Continuously scanning the market for new opportunities ensures your money works as efficiently as possible.
Regular Reviews
Finally, reviewing your portfolio and investment goals helps determine if it’s time to take profits based on performance and prospects. Staying informed about market trends and economic forecasts provides valuable insights into the best times to sell.
Considerations and Consequences of Selling
When deciding to sell and take profits, it’s crucial to consider your financial goals, changes in investment fundamentals, and portfolio balance, while also factoring in tax implications. In addition, maintaining a clear strategy and avoiding decisions driven by short-term market fluctuations are essential. Regularly reviewing your investments and staying informed will help you make the best decisions for your financial future. By following these guidelines, you’ll be able to determine when to take profits, ensuring a successful and fulfilling investment journey.
Long-Term Investment Choices Include Loss Limit Considerations for Stock Market Traders
Be mindful that long-term investors are in and stay in quality productive holdings. However, traders and speculators are playing the market. When playing the market, setting stop losses can help protect capital.
Setting a trading limit at a percent loss may seem straightforward, but it gets tricky depending on your investment goals, risk tolerance, and the fundamentals of each company owned. When setting loss limits, traders have these considerations:
1. Investment Thesis
Has the reason you invested in the stock changed, or have the company’s fundamentals or prospects changed? A temporary downturn might not warrant selling.
2. Stop-Loss Orders
Although stop-loss orders can limit losses, if jumped, they can be missed or triggered by short-term market fluctuations or the manipulations of high-frequency traders, making them imperfect protection.
3. Portfolio Diversification
Diversification helps mitigate the role and risk of loss of each stock in your portfolio to minimize the overall impact.
4. Risk Tolerance
What percent loss of an individual stock or portfolio makes you uncomfortable or significantly impacts your financial situation?
5. Technical Analysis
Some traders use technical analysis support levels, trend reversals, or other bearish signals as selling triggers if the stock hits those marks.
6. Emotional Considerations
Psychological factors, particularly fear, panic, or greed, are powerful emotional triggers traders must manage to avoid irrational decisions.
7. Long-Term vs. Short-Term Perspective
Building a portfolio of assets muddled between long-term investments and short-term trades will undoubtedly lose money. Pick your lane.
Some experienced traders set a hard percentage loss limit and sell without exception if it is hit. Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. It is essential to have a clear investment strategy and regularly reassess your holdings based on your goals and market conditions.
If you need clarification, consult a trader with a successful trading record who can provide personalized guidance tailored to your situation. Just make sure they know and support what you want to achieve. Trading (short-term market plays) and investing (long-term productive quality stock holds) don’t profitably mix well in one portfolio.
White Top Investor Course 305,Key investing success lessonsThe big picture of topics covered:
- Practical skills and knowledge of superior investors
- How investors find money
- Deciding if you need a financial advisor
- Low costs are essential to investing success
- Traits of successful investors can be learned
- Learn and use the small investor advantages
- Sins successful investors avoid
- Successful investors are patient players
- Investors check off the yeses to buy winners
- Interesting investing fun in a long game
- Gold is not a producing investment
- Smart diversification is the smart investment choice
- Investors buy winners on sale in market dips
Money Making Investing Success, Course #305 – lesson links:
1.
How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
Lesson 1
This is lesson 1, Key investing success lesson that begins The Money Making Investing Success course. Each practical lesson in this course teaches the knowledge and skills used by successful investors. The introduction outlines the material and links to each lesson.
2.
Top 4 ways to find money to invest
Lesson 2
Top 4 ways to find money to invest, cut debt, job grants, lower costs and saving is the superior investor combination that funds wealth building portfolios.
3.
Time to invest or time for an advisor Lesson 3
Time to invest or time for an advisor? Investing to build financial security and future comfort are worth your time – no time to invest? – use an advisor!
4.
Low costs double returns as ETFs beat mutual funds Lesson 4
Choose low costs over low returns for greater profits to investors managing costs well. Low costs can double returns for ETF investors over mutual fund returns!
5.
4 Successful investor traits Lesson 5
4 successful traits of superior investors, knowledge, focused, decisive and ready to act. Some manage their own portfolio, others use professional advisors.
6.
Small investors have advantages Lesson 6
Warren Buffett pointed out that small investors have advantages including return, size, growth, liquidity, pecking order and new listing advantages over huge funds.
7.
Avoid 6 investing sins Lesson 7
Avoid 6 investing sins to eliminate errors that hurt investors and fail to take advantage of active investing opportunities. Those errors include using only news, no research, loser holdings, turnarounds, averaging down, not learning or paying attention.
8.
Investment impatience destroys wealth Lesson 8
Investment impatience destroys wealth in every market. Patient investors build wealth riding dividend stocks. You can also avoid selling early by riding winners that pay dividends to grow wealth.
9.
3 Yeses or no investment Lesson 9
3 Yeses or no investment! Superior investors need a yes from the economy as well as the market and company or we say no and keep the money in our pockets.
10.
Investing can be fun, interesting and slow Lesson 10
Learning investing can be fun, interesting and slow as a lifelong journey that delivers years of satisfying and substantial results. Great investments grow, pay and deliver rewarding results over many years on less than an hour a day to research and monitor your portfolio.
11.
Warren Buffett explains gold Lesson 11
Warren Buffett explains the investment value of gold. Gold is not productive. Investors buy productive assets to build wealth producing portfolios essential for investing success.
12.
Smart investors use smart diversification Lesson 12
Investors can lower risk and increase exposure with smart diversification. By making smart diversification fit personal circumstances, investors meet needs, goals and exposure to greater market opportunity at low risk.
13.
How investors buy dips Lesson 13
How investors buy dips uses checkups, winners on sale and bargain prices to make money during stock market corrections. Savvy investors buy winners in dips adding more profit makers to their portfolios.
Why The Lesson Matters: How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
This lesson gives you a preview outline of the material covered by each lesson so you can decide if you want to take the course.
Key investing success lesson: How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
Questions investors ask and answers linked to related lessons FAQ about investment choices
Begin building your investor mind here: The Investor Mind.
Comments and Questions Welcome About Long-Term Investment Choices
Email me at [email protected].
Subscribe free and get White Top Investor lessons in your inbox!
Make money work for you by knowing how investors think, feel and act. Learn here The Investor Mind.
White Top Investor lessons, website layout and organization: click here.
Make Money Work For You With Long-Term Investment Choices
Become a knowledgeable, comfortable and confident investor using White Top Investor lessons. Learn investing one small step at a time at your own pace to become the master of your financial security and independence. White top Investor never sells or shares our email list. Learn more.
Choices to make money work, lesson links:
Overview of investment choices Lesson 290.01
Key investing success choices Lesson 290.02
Join exceptional wealth builders Lesson 290.03
Investing time or adviser time? Lesson 290.04
Media exposes advisor incompetence Lesson 290.05
Small investors have advantages Lesson 290.06
5 Secrets of superior investors Lesson 290.07
Avoid 6 investing sins Lesson 290.08
Investment impatience destroys wealth Lesson 290.09
3 Yeses or no investment Lesson 290.10
Investing can be fun, interesting and slow Lesson 290.11
Warren Buffett explains gold Lesson 290.12
Stock trading halts explained Lesson 290.13
FAQ about money making investment choices Lesson 290.14
FAQ about financial and investment advisors Lesson 290.15
Next lesson: Join exceptional wealth buildershttps
Share: How To Make the Right Long-Term Investment Choices for Success
Buttons below let you share this lesson with family and friends!
Image courtesy Unsplash.com
Lesson code 305.02.Copyright © 2011-24 Bryan KellyWhiteTopInvestor.com
About the Author Bryan Kelly
Bryan Kelly uses White Top Investor to share his extensive investment knowledge and experience. He introduces strategies like the No-Worry Investor and the Index-Plus Layered Strategy, which encourage investor growth through personalized investment plans aligned with their unique circumstances and goals. By helping investors make money work for them and avoid common pitfalls, he aims to support the individual growth of wealth-building investors who can create secure, comfortable financial independence. With decades of experience, Bryan is committed to making stock market success accessible to anyone ready to take control of their financial future. The About page shares the story of his daughter's question that inspired the creation of White Top Investor.
Related Posts
Winning the Financial Game: How to Protect Your Investments
Retirement Plan Essentials: How to Build Your Secure Retirement
Investors Know The Wealth Builder Language: Accounting In The Spotlight
Investors Master Risk to Seize Psychological Advantages and Better Returns
Exploring the Benefits of the Index-Plus Layered Portfolio
Take Control of Your Finances, A Step-by-Step Financial Security Guide
Control Your Financial Destiny: The Smart Money Management Essentials
Pyramid Portfolios: Build Wealth and Make Money Work for You
