Wise things to know about equities(1)

If you are patient and calm enough to endure market ups and downs, equity investments grant you good returns.

Centuries of world economic data and our own bourse history bear this out.

However, stocks and shares are also the most volatile asset class in terms of price movements and thus, the most risky.

Hence, do not invest directly in the stock market unless you can endure a fall in price without it having any impact on your day-to-day living standard.

Remember the truism in investing:

the greater the reward, the higher the risk.

The aim of investing in stocks and shares is to buy at a low and sell at a high, but knowing when, is the problem.

Many investors attempt to time the market:

they try to figure out when the market is going up and buy into it before it does, and then figure out when it is going to crash and sell everything just before it does.