Question: What is the maximum return I can earn from investing in stocks?—asked at “Ask a friend, ask Efren”
free service available at www.personalfinance.ph and Facebook.
Answer: December is fast approaching. And contrary to common belief, December is the month when more couples tie the knot and make eternal vows to each other. Let’s read one such vow made by a groom many years ago.
“They say that nothing is forever. But how can something so beautiful and profound be fleeting? It seems that every turn in my life has led me to this point, this place, this very minute. In a while, I’ll be saying, “I do” to forever. I will be saying “I do” with great joy knowing that you will be saying it too.
In a while, you will be the second most important reason next to the good Lord for my being. A lifetime of waking up with you beside me would simply be too short. I cannot wait to get started on sharing brush strokes with you as we paint the picture of our home, our children, our vacations, our retirement and our life together.
In a while, I will be committing to being beside, behind and in front of you in challenging times. I will hurt when you hurt. I will shed a tear when you do. I will feel hollow when you feel sorrow. All these I will do to ensure that you are never alone when you need a holding hand.
In a while, I will be your one-man cheering squad. I will be ecstatic when you are happy. I will be proud when you humbly achieve. I will listen quietly and intently while you relate stories of how your day went. I will support you even though I may not always agree with your thoughts.
There is a story of how a couple, who were married for a very long time, stayed together even up to their last breath. As the story goes, the couple figured in a major car accident. They were both wheeled into the emergency room holding hands. The husband expired first. Yet, they were detecting a pulse from the man. Later, hospital personnel realized that the faint heart beats they were detecting from the man were those of his wife as they were still holding hands. A little while later, the wife also expired.
In a while, I will promise to share my very last heart beat with you.
In a while, I will be giving you my heart… forever. And while they say that there is no more husband and wife when you get to heaven, I will ask the good Lord to at least allow me to keep running into you in heaven for eternity.
In a while, you will be my forever.”
Investing in the stock market is not just about earning the maximum return. The stock market is just a tool and not your goal. And just like our groom, your goal should be your noble lifelong dreams, which when quantified and compared to what funds you have now and what you can add to those funds, will translate to the return you need to earn. Your noble goals will also help temper your appetite for risk so that you will exercise prudence in where you will invest your money (e.g. stocks, bonds, money market, currencies). These noble goals are part and parcel of the ABCs of investing.
Knowing first the ABCs of investing will then help you avoid the FGHIs, which are fear, greed, hope and ignorance.
Be noble in investing.