It’s natural to have your confidence shaken by stock market crashes. We’re only human, after all, and watching the value of your investments plummet is demoralising. It can seem all that time, effort, and cost of building a portfolio of UK shares has been all for nothing.
It’s the reason why UK share markets continue to struggle for traction today. There are stacks of high-quality UK shares trading at dirt-cheap prices after the stock market crash of early 2020. But dip buyers remain thin on the ground as investors fear getting burned again.
This is a great shame in my book. Those who were brave enough to buy UK shares following the crash that accompanied the 2008/2009 banking crisis made an absolute fortune. Some even made a million or more. And there’s no reason to believe that you or I can’t get rich by buying shares after this year’s crash. Those sitting on the sidelines today are missing a chance to get seriously rich.
Thinking like Warren Buffett
Many people view fears over Covid-19, Brexit, trade wars, civil unrest and political uncertainty as good reasons not to buy UK shares right now. However, history shows that geopolitical, economic, and social upheaval is no barrier to getting seriously rich from UK shares over the long term.
I can’t illustrate this point better than stocks guru and billionaire investor Warren Buffett. In this legendary example, he noted that “in the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.”
This is why I’ve continued to buy UK shares in my own Stocks and Shares ISA in 2020. You’re not going to achieve your plans of getting rich, and possibly even joining the millionaire’s club, by sitting idle. In fact, you can boost your chances of making a fortune by buying quality shares following these recent bouts of panic selling and watching them soar in value as the economy improves and corporate profits ascend.
Make a million with UK shares
You don’t necessarily have to save huge amounts of money to become a millionaire stock investor either. If you put aside just £50 a week, you’ll have saved £217 (averaged over the course of a year) at the end of each month to invest in UK shares.
If you start investing this money at age 25, you’ll have likely made between £699,000 and £1.2m by age 65. That’s based on studies showing that long-term investors make an average return of 8-10% a year.
Investing after a stock market crash improves your chances of hitting those magic rates of return too. Those ISA millionaires who invested after the previous crash would certainly agree with me. And with the help of The Motley Fool and its epic library of exclusive reports you can build a formidable portfolio of UK shares to help you make a million of your own.