As an investor in the turbulent world of stock markets you always will be tempted to sell your stock and book profits. That strategy definitely works fine but you may lose out on further upswing in the stock if the market is on an upswing. That is why there are pros and cons to a buy and hold strategy.

If you ask any investor a beginner or a veteran they will have conflicting views and opinion about this strategy. Then there is one famous investor of this generation by the name of Warren Buffett who has made billions on dollars just by using this buy and hold strategy. That is not to say that there are others who have made billions by just buying and selling in a very short period of time.

The risks in general associated with the buy and hold strategy are very less because in the long run say bout ten years or so you will generally tend to make handsome returns on your investment. The longer period allows you to tide over the losses during the lean period.

The down side of this strategy is that you need to have enough patience and good amount of capital to sustain patience for over a period of a few years. That is a tough task to follow because if buy a stock at market upswing time then you would be see immediate profits and would like to sell the stock. Let us assume that you get a 30% return in a matter of a month. That would be more than sufficient return to sway any investor and get him to sell his stock. But if you are a proponent of a buy and hold strategy you would actually buy a stock which is worth many times over in the long run. The 30% return will not be enough for you to sell the stock. A long term investor knows that a particular stock is worth say 800% over and that is why it is not prudent to sell the stock now and wait for bigger profits. So it all depends on the kind of returns you are expecting from the market apart form the fact that you need to have patience to hold through a longer period.

On the flip side there will be times when you are have losses on your books and a short term investor will in general as a rule try to limit his losses ad will exit the stock. Whereas a long term investor will hold out knowing that this a temporary blip in an otherwise uptrend stock.

So think hard and decide which strategy you want to go with and select the stocks appropriately.


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If you have money that is lying around and not making much in the way of interest, there are other ways that are more profitable. By investing your money now, you can have much more later - when you may really need it. Here are 4 reasons why you need to start investing your money today.

Increase Your Profit Now

If you have your money in a savings account only earning 1 or 2 percent, that really is not bringing in much profit for you. When you consider that other forms of investment could bring in a much higher percentage, then it is actually like throwing money away that your money could be earning now.

Various forms of investments will certainly bring you more interest. You will need to decide what level of risk you want to take with your investment money. It will range from low risk such as with bonds, all the way up to high risk with certain volatile stocks. By diversifying your investment portfolio, however, you can set aside portions of your investment money for different levels of risk, and keep a rather good balance on the profit - depending on your risk level.

Save for Retirement

If you are still young enough, you have time to make some solid investments that would enable you to retire at a decent age. It does depend, of course, on just how much you have to invest, and how it is invested.

The sooner you start, though, the more interest and profit can be gained from investing if you follow wise investment strategies. If you do not know how to invest, seek the help of someone who does. Professional financial investors are readily available and may even be able to manage your investment portfolio for you.

Do not forget that money earned for retirement could also get in the way of getting Medicaid when you might need it. There are ways to handle your assets beforehand but you will certainly need to know what they are in advance of actually reaching your retirement years.

Build A Legacy

If you start soon enough, you may be able to take some of your hard-earned money and pass it on to future generations in your family. Wealth can make a real difference in the lives of your heirs and a good investment plan can help you make that difference. Just do not forget to use some good estate planning to ensure that the taxman will not get about half of your estate.

As you start to consider investing, you certainly want to get started by making wise decisions. A lot of mistakes can be made in investing resulting in a lot of money being lost unnecessarily. You need to read up on investment techniques and how to plan a balanced portfolio. Another choice would be to go to a financial planner and get good advice from him or her concerning how to get started. Some of them may even be able to manage your portfolio for you and ensure that your money is being put to good investments which means making a good amount of profit for you.


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