Characteristics of a canny investor – Part 2

Just because you don’t have an ultimate financial gambit to sell a business or inherit funds, it doesn’t mean you will never become wealthy. The important thing is to know yourself – in particular, your financial behaviour. Modeling your behaviour after successful investors is already a step in the right direction.

Let’s look at some more of the behavioural traits of an astute investor:

1. They get pleasure out of saving, not spending
Buying things releases endorphins, resulting in a ‘shopper’s high’. This can be a tough behaviour to reprogram due to the satisfaction that is hardwired into your brain, but it is possible. Using retail therapy to cheer yourself up is not healthy for your bank balance.

2. They understand the power of passive income
Smart investors weigh up the risk versus return. Dividends can be a good source of passive income, so can rental income. If you’re an employee and your company is going to put you out to pasture at 60 – what are you going to do for the next 30 or 40 years? More importantly, how much money are you going to need to fund that?

3. They build their retirement savings from day one
In your 20s and 30s retirement seems so far into the future it is quite understandable that present financial pressures take precedence over retirement. You might feel that there is always time to catch up, and that might be true – but what if it isn’t? It is in those early working years that wealth habits become entrenched. Given time, investments compound and a small nest-egg can grow massively in 40 years.

Wealth is what is left after you have consumed your income. It takes a perseverant and prudent attitude to be a successful investor.

I’m here to help. Let’s look at securing your financial future.

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Posted in Blog, Financial Planning, Investments.