An Investing Christmas Story

Once upon a time, a Master and his disciple were sitting under a tree in a beautiful garden. The disciple asked, “Master, I feel confused. How can I find my soulmate? Can you help me?”

The Master was silent for a few moments, then replied, “That is both a difficult and an easy question.”

He continued, “Look around! In this garden, you see many beautiful flowers. Walk along the path and try to find the most remarkable flower. The only rule is that you must keep moving forward—you cannot turn back. When you find the one that stands out, pick it and bring it to me.”

The disciple agreed and began his walk.

After a while, he returned empty-handed.

The Master smiled and asked, “I see you’ve come back, but where is the flower?”

The disciple, a bit embarrassed, said, “As I walked, I saw many beautiful flowers, but I kept thinking I would find an even more remarkable one just ahead. I was so focused on what might come next that, before I knew it, I had reached the end of the path. I passed by all the beautiful flowers and couldn’t decide on a single one to pick.”

The Master nodded and said, “That’s how life is. If you spend all your time comparing opportunities, hoping for the perfect one, you’ll miss what’s right in front of you. Seize the good opportunities as they come and make the most of them. If you wait for perfection, you’ll waste your whole life searching.”

The same lesson applies to investing…

Many people spend their time searching for the perfect investment. They try to time the market perfectly or find the investment that’s guaranteed to outperform. And it’s no surprise—they never actually start investing.

In the world of investing, there are no guarantees. You can never be sure which investment will be the best for the future. But you have to start somewhere.

If you don’t start, you lose.

In the last two years, central banks have printed nearly 50% of all the currency in existence. In other words, the amount of Dollars, Euros, and other currencies in circulation has nearly doubled.

This means the purchasing power of our money has been cut almost in half.

My prediction for 2022? Markets will continue to go up and down, just like they always have. But in the long run, the direction is UP.

That’s why I’m treating every dip like a Christmas gift and investing more.

What about you?