From the time we are little, we try not to make mistakes. I guess it depends on the kid but I was one of those kids who tried not to make a mistake on tests or tried not to colour over the line. My kids don’t have that problem. They may pretend to make mistakes just to see my flabbergasted face. I now see how being a perfectionist is problematic for many things in life.
One day, one of my children came home with a spelling test and he got a zero out of five. I was surprised and said honey, you got all of them wrong. He replied, no mommy, they are all…incorrect. He seemed to think he did well because he had more incorrect answers than anyone else in the class. I was not like this child at all. I’m happy he goes on in life unperturbed about making mistakes. It makes a great lesson for investing. It’s okay to make mistakes when investing especially when you are young and just starting out.
Retain the Ability to be Wrong and Move On
Being a kid is about learning from your mistakes and being able to move on with life and try again. When investing you also have to accept that making mistakes is totally acceptable and you will only get better at investing once you make some basic ones. When I realized I made a trade in error, I called the brokerage and explained what I tried to do and they helped me correct it without any extra charges.
At one time, I sold a stock and got the ticker symbol wrong. I had two stocks with similar tickers. I ordered a sale of a stock and not only did I get the ticker wrong but I tried selling more than I owned of the stock, so in essence I was short selling. I realized minutes after and called the brokerage and they set everything straight, I don’t think they even charged me for all the extra orders that had to go through to fix my mistake. Other times, I’ve sold a poorly performing stock only to see it sky rocket way beyond what I originally paid for it months later. I realized that I should have had more patience and if I’m not willing to hold a stock for the long term then I shouldn’t buy it.
Times are Always Uncertain, But Some Times are More Uncertain Than Others
I’m still investing twenty years later in extremely “uncertain times.” However, I don’t recall there ever being “certain times” in which to invest in. It’s okay to make some mistakes when investing, give yourself that leeway. Learn from making mistakes and learn from other people’s mistakes too. As long as you stay invested for a very long period, things should work out well and maybe even better than you could have anticipated, with all your mistakes and all the market crashes and corrections accounted for. Stay invested and as one investing giant has said, “just stay the course.”
