Investment lessons in honour of Women’s Month

It took a time of just 2 minutes, 18.95 seconds to break a world record and win gold in the pool, but a lifetime of dedication to get there! Tatjana Schoenmaker became a household name on 30 July 2021 with her sterling performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in the 200m breaststroke event, shining a much-needed ray of hope on South Africa.

August is Women’s month and a great time to pause and honor women from all walks of life, celebrating the undeniable impact they have on our society. Like Tatjana, women inspire, lead and literally bring nations together.

Investing requires a couple of important traits to ensure that your investments deliver as expected. And it just so happens that women exude these, quite naturally.

 

Focus on the long-term benefit

One of the most important traits when working with your money is the ability to exercise patience. After all, investing takes time, committing to the bigger picture.

Markets ebb and flow, but it is during times of adverse market conditions that patience is required most, to prevent one from making poor investment decisions. Too often people lose their patience and cash out their investments when markets are at their worst, destroying wealth in the process.

Committed investors are more focused, less distracted and more successful. 

 

Detail-orientated

Gathering crucial information is key. Understand the total fees applicable (Effective Annual Cost or EAC), the liquidity, tax implications and flexibility of an investment. Or even if it can be left to take care of your spouse or children.

Gathering information about investments should not be limited to the performance of the investment alone, but rather seeing the bigger investment picture should be the ultimate goal.

Read the terms and conditions, dot every ‘I’ and cross every ‘T’. Finding out the rules of the game up front is crucial in making sure you understand the playing field. These are great traits to have when it comes to investing.

So often, people are horrified to learn that they can’t cash out a certain type of investment. However, had they understood the rules up front, things could have been different. It is always prudent to be thorough when it comes to understanding your investment options, even if it does take a little extra time. In short, read more and guess less.

 

Active listening

If you don’t listen closely, there is a danger that you could miss the smaller details that could have the biggest impact on your investment outcomes. Things like certain taxation aspects or liquidity constraints of some investments are good examples.

 

OUTvest is an authorised FSP. All our investments are exposed to risk, not guaranteed and dependent on the performance of the underlying assets. Ts and Cs apply.

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