Say yes to short term pain

March 12, 2020

Introduction

It is so challenge to go through the bear market and see portfolio drop in one day, more than 7%. I know that people are risk aversion. It is also a good idea to review 7 traits for a good investor.

Say yes to short pain

Here is the article I like to read again.


I like to review the following trait #7, and work on some research on arguments from hedge fund manager Mark Sellers.

Trait #7

And finally the most important, and rarest, trait of all: The ability to live through volatility without changing your investment thought process.

This is almost impossible for most people to do; when the chips are down they have a terrible time not selling their stocks at a loss. They have a really hard time getting themselves to average down or to put any money into stocks at all when the market is going down.

People don't like short term pain even if it would result in better long-term results. Very few investors can handle the volatility required for high portfolio returns.

They equate short-term volatility with risk. This is irrational; risk means that if you are wrong about a bet you make, you lose money. A swing up or down over a relatively short time period is not a loss and therefore not risk, unless you are prone to panicking at the bottom and locking in the loss.

But most people just can't see it that way; their brains won't let them. Their panic instinct steps in and shuts down the normal brain function.

I would argue that none of these traits can be learned once a person reaches adulthood. By that time, your potential to be an outstanding investor later in life has already been determined.

It can be honed, but not developed from scratch because it mostly has to do with the way your brain is wired and experiences you have as a child. That doesn't mean financial education and reading and investing experience aren't important.

Those are critical just to get into the game and keep playing. But those things can be copied by anyone.