AWOL 2014 Issue 294 8th August | Page 9

Advertise here from only 40 baht per week cashING in The Financial Benefits of Being an Expat. Every week in this article Helen Couldrey, a financial consultant with the deVere Group, and also a qualified English lawyer, will give you tips and ideas of how to take advantage financially of being an expat. Helen has clients in Bangkok, Hua Hin and Cha-Am who she helps to maximise the financial benefits of living overseas. CHA-AM AND HUA HIN Retirement Planning - Education Fee Planning Regular Savings - Tax Saving Lump Sum Investments Helen Couldrey, BA (Hons), L.L.B, CISI Contact Helen for a finance review 086 088 2127 [email protected] Time, not Timing For anyone who works in investments, having to utter the words “your investments are down” could be perceived to be a particularly bad day. Similarly, they are the words that every investor does not want to hear. However, having funds that are down for a certain period of time can sometimes work to your advantage, giving you greater returns in the long run. DOLLAR COST AVERAGING In a nutshell, market downturns can be good buying opportunities. Downturns can be like going into the shops in the January Sales and buying those luxuries that you wanted, but at a discounted rate. In essence you get more investment units for your money which can work to your advantage over the long-term if those investments then rebound. This can be much more effective than just selling the investments when they are at their lowest. However, if those particular funds or shares are likely to remain down then obviously it’s not a good time to buy. Selling may also be the better option too. Warren Buffet, one of the savviest investors of this era made a lot of money during the credit crunch by benefiting from ‘discounted’ investments. He bought various investments during the decline and, when the markets started to rebound, made a lot of money. He persevered with the belief that, over the long-term, he would eventually see a return… And he was right. Contacting AWOL Advertising: [email protected] Classifieds: [email protected] Submissions: [email protected] Enquiries: [email protected] Property: [email protected] HOLDING ON Sitting tight can often be the best way forward; it all depends on what the investments will do. There may be bull markets, when prices will rise or be expected to rise, followed by pessimistic bear markets, during which it may appear a better option to sell investments. Nobody can predict what the future will hold but we take piece of mind in the fact that trends do show that keeping investments for a long period of time yields returns. If we look at trends over a 20 year period between 1992 and 2012, regardless of what type of investment is held, whether it be cash, property or equities, there is a steady increase in the overall holding over time. Generally speaking, equities outperform other investment types in the long-term and, if it’s a long-term strategy that you have in place it is worth keeping this in mind. After all, time, not timing is often the key to successful investing. 9 Website: Telephone: Facebook: Twitter: Office: Join the AWOL forum www.awolonline.net 081 649 8361 (Eng) or 081 614 8728 (Thai) AWOLexpat awolhuahin 136/229 Emerald Hill, Soi 6, Borfai, Hua Hin, 77110, Prachuap Kiri Khan