If you had invested Rs 10,000 in Infosys shares in 1992, you would be richer by Rs 1.5 crore today.
If you had invested Rs 1,000 in Ranbaxy in 1980, you would have got Rs 1.9 crore today!
And not so far back in time, if you had invested Rs 40,000 in Unitech during the lows of 2004, your bank account would see a whopping Rs 1.1 crore today!
Some guy out there knew this. Today, he is laughing all the way to the bank.
So what was the magic strategy that made this guy so rich? Simple.
He bought, he waited
Waited for all those share splits and bonus declarations.
Waited for the company to grow from strength to strength.
Waited even when the shares teetered only to recoup in a few years’ time.
Just as a child takes time to realise his/ her full potential, so does an investment need time to reward you handsomely.
Sure, the times are uncertain now. But let that not scare you to sell for a loss.
Patience pays
Look back. You will notice that selling in such times makes no real sense in the longer run. Those who didn’t sell their stocks during the May 2006 crash but had, in fact, bought more would be a very happy lot today.
Investing long term is like that: it rewards you handsomely. Always. Exercise patience. As champion broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said recently, if you want to learn more about patience, get married!
The way I see it, you don’t really need to get married to learn patience. Just look back in time. All these stocks have been multi-baggers for those who stayed on for the long term. They would have fetched you unimaginable returns today.
