Investing isn't as difficult as some advisors would have you believe.
In fact, with a long-term strategy, I'd argue it's far easier (and much more rewarding) to be an individual investor than it is to listen to the "experts" at your local brokerage talk about candlestick charts, resistance and price targets.
"But investing is boring", I gladly hear the 62% of adult Australians who don't invest in shares say. If that's you, be happy because that is your advantage. More on that below…
There's no time to waste
One of the biggest reasons Australians don't invest, is time. We're just too busy.
But what many of us don't realise is that we actually do have the luxury of time. Not the luxury of being able to read a company's annual report, scrutinise analyst reviews or attend AGMs (believe me that's not a luxury) but something else…
You see, we don't need to spend countless hours on weeknights or weekends researching stocks to have a meaningful impact on our own financial well-being.
Long-term investing is more about doing nothing (which requires no time at all) than anything else. As Motley Fool Columnist Morgan Housel puts it, "99% of long-term investing is doing nothing; the other 1% will change your life."
With a buy to hold strategy, you have the luxury of researching a company once and forgetting about it until a significant announcement emerges or it reports again next year.
Now, that might sound risky to you but, as Warren Buffett puts it, "I never attempt to make money on the stock market. I buy on the assumption that they could close the market the next day and not reopen it for five years."
Here's how you can start your own lazy investment strategy
Now, I'm not telling you to go out and buy the first company you see. Which will likely be BHP Billiton Limited (ASX: BHP), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA), National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB) or Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). You need to be more selective and choose only the best ASX shares.
