The concept of long-term investing is for most practical purposes, dead. Many investors in this age of by-the-minute business news channels associate long-term investing as holding a stock for a whole one year. Gone are the days when we would still have the shares that our father or grandfather bought. And we are paying the price for it -- dearly!

The main criticism against long-term buy-and-hold strategy is that we live in a world that is changing by the day. Nothing -- not even profits, market shares or the stock price remain as they are in the future. So, the best course of action, is to buy-and-sell but this again needs to be consulted with experts in the market who understand the dynamics and the volatility in each sector. Because when you go to the right people, they help you device a strategy that meets your intentions and expectations from the investment.

This is one of the greatest myths that people buy into. Investing in small fragments into lots of ideas will give optimal adjusted returns for example investing 10 lakhs as 2 lakhs into 5 ideas will give better return. Adjusting nominal returns to reflect inflation should be an automatic process for every investor. Sadly, it is not. Everybody knows equity returns are volatile. So is inflation and its fluctuations over the long term also need to be tracked.

Generally, people who believe in this strategy negate the averaging. It is not right to invest 2lakhs and 5 different ideas and expect all of it to perform the same. This requires an in-depth understanding of the revenue model of each area of investment. Meaningful stake into high conviction idea will give the best return as it avoids averaging

Real estate isn't a bad investment, but real estate investments won't likely generate as high of returns over long periods of time. The myth of real estate being a great investment is mostly a result of mathematical illiteracy about compound growth. People will tell you about how the value of a certain plot of land or house grew 50 or 100 times in 20-50 years. This sounds fabulous, but is actually nothing special. The BSE Sensex has become 300 times its value in 38 years. Even a gain of 100 times in 50 years comes to only 9.6% per annum, which is not exceptional. But even these gains in real estate could only have happened under the old model of real estate investment.

They cannot happen now. Let’s try to understand where real estate returns came from historically. There are perhaps five sources of gains in the price of a given property, and the final profit is a product of these. First, the original change in usage of a piece of land from agricultural or barren to residential or commercial. Second, the development of physical infrastructure which makes this land usable for the new purpose. Third, the improvement in liveability or commercial viability as the area becomes more and more populated. Fourth, the periodic booms and busts that afflict real estate, and fifth, the general inflation of the economy that becomes part of the visible change in the property’s price.

When our parents’ generation bought property, they often did so at an early stage. As a result, all the gains from the second to the fifth point above accrued to them over two or three decades. Now, you typically buy an apartment from a real estate developer, and all gains from stage one to three accrue to him. What is even worse is that the developer also tries to capture much of the value of the later stages in advance from the buyer, and often succeeds in doing so. The intense marketing hype around real estate developments is intended to convince you that one day in the imminent future, the property you are buying will be among the most desirable in your part of country. Therefore, you must pay up now. All we suggest is be more aware and clear when you consider real estate as an investment.

If you’re putting money aside in a low, fixed interest rate savings or money market account, this isn’t investing. This can offer a cushion for emergencies and unexpected spending needs, but it’s only one piece of a financial strategy.

Investing is using your money to potentially create more money over a period of time.

Some people may shy away from investing, thinking it's too risky. Although investing does come with risks, not investing can also be a risk to your financial future. If your money doesn't grow, you may face the risk of not achieving your long-term goals. Saving is a lot simpler while investing requires some homework and guidance. That’s why many investors seek professional advice.

For a Financial Planner, one of the most important parts of the financial planning process is getting to know and understand you. This then allows us to tailor and customise the financial advice to suit your situation and help you achieve your financial goals and dreams.

The popular belief that Financial Planners simply want to sell products and don’t care about the outcome is yet another myth. The main aim for our Financial Planners is to help as many people as they can achieve their goals and dreams. We are highly outcome focused and any recommendations we make will be based on what we think is best for you.

We believe that financial planning is all about truly understanding what a client’s needs, hopes and dreams are, then providing strategies and implementing solutions to make it all possible. It is all about achieving the best results possible for you.