The long-term is your friend. That is the core philosophy of the Long View, and it is a good one. Put money away, let compound interest work its wonders, and the chances are that you will be fine.
As this will be my last Long View, 12 years after my first, the time has come to unveil the results of an experiment I started at the dawn of my time as journalist for the Financial Times.
In 1992, what was then known as the Unit Trust Association named me its national journalist of the year. I was in my third year at the FT, and proud to accept it. The prize was ￡500 in the unit trust (mutual fund) of my choice. As I was already telling readers to take the long view, I decided not to touch the money once I invested it. I have never added to it. All income has been reinvested. I wanted to see how a long-term “buy and hold” investment would do.