People always look at me funny when I tell them that I am looking forward to the next stock market crash.
"Why on earth would you look forward to that?" they ask.
My answer is simple, yet very complex...
"I'm not done buying yet. If prices keep going up, it will just cost me more. I want prices to come down so that I can get more value for my investment dollars."
No matter what stage of life someone is at-building wealth, preserving wealth, living off of their wealth-you're not done buying yet. If you have an investment portfolio, you are always working on ensuring that the investments in your portfolio are worth more than their price. If this changes, then it is time to swap out an investment for one whose value is higher than its price. This is part of the re-balancing process.
The
price of things and the
value of things are always changing. They are pretty much never in balance. And when it comes to investing, understanding how these two concepts relate to one another is critical to your investment success.
Let's use an example that we can all relate to: buying your home.
If we remove the emotions of real estate bidding wars and the emotional excitement of the transaction, what do we always want to do when we buy a piece of real estate?
It is fair to say that our goal is to acquire the real estate for a price that is equal to or less than the value of the real estate. In other words, we never really enter into the transaction with the hope that we will pay more than the home is worth.
So, knowing this, when is the best time to buy real estate? That's right, when the prices drop below the value.
The same rules apply when it comes to our investment portfolios.
I recently recorded a discussion I had with one of our portfolio managers where he explained this concept in Plain English. I encourage you to watch the following video. I'm sure that by the end of it, you too will begin to look forward to the next market crash.
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What is the Margin of Safety? (Charles Wilton - Raymond James)
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On a final note, I wanted to highlight another interesting chart prepared by Fidelity Investments that will help you through the next market correction. The chart simply looks at the appreciation of the US Stock Market in the 5 years just after a major negative market event.
The message is clear, if you can learn to look forward to market downturns like I do, you will begin to see that the future growth in your portfolio comes not just as the market increases, but also from the disciplined understanding of the importance of buying at the right price. When you understand this, logic takes over and helps you in understanding that you need market crashes to properly position your portfolio to make significant returns.