For most people, making a million pounds in the stock market is not an impossible goal. However, it does require a lot of time, effort, and patience.
Making money takes time
According to my research, over the past 10 years, the FTSE 250 has produced an average annual return for investors in a region of 9%. At this rate of return, contributions of just £220 a month for 40 years would be enough to make a £1m from a standing start.
But the biggest issue that stops investors from hitting this target is themselves.
According to research compiled by analysts at investment bank Morgan Stanley, between 1997 and 2016, the average investor’s portfolio returned just 2.3%.
There are a couple of reasons why investors tend to underperform the market, but the main reason is they are just not patient enough.
Patience is a virtue
Warren Buffett is widely considered to be the greatest investor of all time, and he’s also the world’s most patient investor.
He’s happy to hold stock positions for decades without making any changes and only ever buys a position if he sure the stock will be a good investment for at least 10 years.
Warren Buffett believes that discipline and patience are the two essential qualities every investor to be successful over the long term. Indeed, the billionaire CEO once declared that “the stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.“
And if you want to become a Stocks and Shares ISA millionaire, I think this advice will substantially improve your chances of getting there.
As I tried to show in the example at the beginning of this article, it is quite easy to grow your wealth using the stock market if you sit back and let the market do all the hard work for you.
Trading in and out of different stocks and funds will only hurt your chances of becoming wealthy.
Not only are there costs and charges involved with changing your investments, but research also shows that humans tend to sell stocks at the point of maximum pessimism, i.e., at their lowest point before the recovery starts.
The bottom line
Warren Buffett has made his billions by picking good companies and sticking with them through thick and thin. He’s not tried to second-guess the market or other investors.
This approach might seem lazy. However, it is anything but. The Oracle of Omaha is well aware that stocks generate attractive returns over the long term without any interference. If you try to trade in and out of the market, you’re only increasing your chances of making a mistake while racking up trading charges along the way.
So when you are planning your investment strategy for your Stocks and Shares ISA, I think it could be worthwhile remembering this quote from Warren Buffett: “Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time.“