Chasing returns is not about the money

Let me share the story a young guy who has just graduated. He recently got a nice job with a company and is able to save around 2 lacs per annum after all his expenses.

Now this guy is quite similar to all his peers, but different from his hot blooded brethren only on one small point. He believes in saving and investing, but does not want to chase stock market returns. In the last few years, he read a few books on investing by john bogle, and decided that he was going to invest in some decent mutual or index fund and then leave it at that.

You see, this young guy has a girlfriend and wants to spend time with her. In addition, he also wants to use his spare time pursuing hobbies like painting and travelling.

He sets up a simple plan:
-           Save 2 lacs per year and invest it in a few index/ mutual funds
-           Increase his savings by 5% every year to match inflation
-           Invest each month via an SIP to put it on autopilot
-           Avoid financial news on TV and use the spare time on other pursuits

Ten years later this guy who is now married, decides to have a look at his investment account. During this period, the overall market has delivered around 15% per annum for the last 10 years. He finds that his account is now around 67 Lacs. Not bad!

He goes back to his usual life and forgets about this whole stock market thing. The only time he checks is to extend the SIP in his account as most banks don’t provide a 10 year SIP option

Its twenty years now since he started and one day his wife asks him if they have decent savings which can be tapped for their daughter’s education, 10 years from now.

He goes back to his account and is pleasantly surprised to find that the account now has 3.7 Crs. He is confidently able to tell his wife that they truly afford a good quality education for their children.

At the age of 55, its time finally to fund their daughter’s education. Our guy, who is no longer as young, decides to look at his account and finds that the account has 16 crores!! This is far more than he ever imagined. Both he and his wife now start thinking of taking an early retirement. They figure that in 5 years’ time, the account would grow to around 29 Crs ** at the current rate if they can fund their daughter’s education from the liquid cash they have been holding on the side. This amount would be sufficient to retire and lead a comfortable life

Now I know some of you would raise objections like

-           15% consistent returns are good in theory, but the actual returns are more lumpy.
-           Not everyone can save 2 lacs or do that without fail every year

Let me handle them both -

If you save consistently and do not withdraw the capital from the account, a smooth or lump 15% would still amount to the same in the end. It is only when people act smart and try to time in and out of market (and change the amount invested), that the eventual amount depends on the pattern of returns.

In addition, our overall stock market has delivered around 12-13% return in the last 20 years and if you add dividend and the effect of monthly cost averaging, a 15% CAGR is quite reasonable

On the second point, 2 lac saving per annum may not be possible for everyone, but I am sure a lot of two income professionals can muster this level of savings. In addition, I have assumed that the contribution rises only at 5% per annum. In most cases, earnings and hence savings can rise faster than that.

So my point is this – If the objective is to meet your personal financial goals, then discipline in saving and investing consistently is far more important than chasing the next hot sector or hot stock. Ocourse, higher returns will get you to your goals faster, but beyond a level of wealth, it more about flaunting than about its utility.

However, If the reason for chasing returns in the market is to get on TV or twitter to show the world how smart you are, then we are talking of a completely different objective. In such a case, the actual returns have nothing to do with the money or financial goals.

** If you wondering about the impact of inflation , a 6% inflation would still mean a nest egg of around 3.8 Crs in current money terms. In my books, even this is a good amount of money

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Stocks discussed in this post are for educational purpose only and not recommendations to buy or sell. Please contact a certified investment adviser for your investment decisions. Please read disclaimer towards the end of blog.