To make money from equities, not just patience, but extreme patience is required.

Even last piece I wrote on patience. I’m continuing with the same. Why?

Patience is the most difficult virtue to develop. As I’ve said before, the origin of the word patience means suffering. To be patient is to suffer.

By nature, we try to avoid pain. But nothing worthwhile is ever achieved without going through pain.

Markets may not give any returns for three years and give three year returns in the fourth year.

Gains are never linear but always lumpy.

Markets can test our patience to the extreme. Only those who are able to bear the same are rewarded well.

Investors who are impatient seldom make money from markets.

Those who are with us for long are still seeing good returns.

Those who have become clients in the last few years are staring at bad returns.

Things will definitely change. Over a ten year period, the results would be good.

I cannot predict when markets would start going up. All I know is, in a decade, you would have more good years than bad years and the overall results would meet your expectations.

I can motivate and handhold you. But it is you who need to develop the required virtues.

Stay the course with faith. You would be amply rewarded.

I’m writing to you after 50 days. I wrote to you multiple times in September and October when markets had a steep fall.

After I wrote last piece, markets have been in recovery mode.

This is true for both equity and debt markets as well.

Overall this year has been a rough one.

As I repeatedly point out, 10% fall once a year, 20% fall once in couple of years and 30% fall atleast once a decade is unavoidable.

For many portfolios, this is a year of 20%+ correction.

Nobody loves to see the portfolio value going down. But this is the price which has to be paid for long term growth.

In most aspects of life, nothing worthwhile can be achieved without some amount of pain and sacrifice.

The very fact you set aside money today for investing shows that you sacrifice some part of today for a better tomorrow.

In equity investing, seeing your wealth going down, though it is temporary is the pain you’ve to go through for building long term wealth.

The only way to avoid pain is not to invest in equity at all.

By avoiding pain you would not have any gain as well.

You’ve all chosen equity fully understanding the pain and sacrifice that needs to be undergone on the journey towards achieving long term life goals.

Good advice never changes however repetitive and boring it sounds.

Just continue to stay the course remembering the long term results are always good for those willing to undergo short term pain.