Investing Learned from Major Losses: Growing Assets Significantly in My 50s

I started investing in my 20s.

However, I didn’t have enough investment knowledge at first, and I kept making losses by repeating speculative trades.
Experiencing a major loss around the time of the Lehman Shock became the catalyst for me to rethink my investment approach.

Changing my investment approach after the Lehman Shock

After that, I switched to a method of accumulating investment trusts, focusing on index investing.

Looking back, I think the period after the Lehman Shock, with falling stock prices and a strong yen, was a good time to continue accumulating.

I joined the National Pension Fund in 2004 and iDeCo in 2008.
This is because my workplace didn’t have sufficient welfare benefits, so I believed I needed to prepare for my old age on my own.

Around the time of Abenomics, I was able to make a large profit from investing for the first time.

The foundation of asset formation is index investing

I continued to accumulate investments after that.

I was originally a spendthrift, but in my 40s, I brought a packed lunch almost every day, bought almost no clothes, and practiced thorough frugality.
I diverted the money I saved into investments.

It might have been a life close to what is now called ‘NISA poverty’.

These accumulations became the foundation of my asset formation.

In my 50s, I started to see market crashes as opportunities

From my 50s, when my assets had grown, I became able to buy more when the market dropped significantly, in addition to my monthly accumulation.

I think of ‘market crashes as opportunities’ and buy when those around me feel anxious.
Of course, this is within a reasonable range.

This is something I became able to do precisely because my assets had grown through many years of accumulation and I had the surplus capacity to invest.

Reaching my 50s, my assets have grown significantly

The index investing I have continued since the Lehman Shock has grown significantly in my 50s, partly due to the recent rise in the market.
It really felt like it was snowballing.

There are aspects where I was blessed with the timing of when I started investing and the market conditions.
Not everyone can replicate the same results.

Even so, I feel that continuing to accumulate over a long period of time is what has led to where I am now.

Even if you fail, you can learn and start over.

My investment journey did not go smoothly from the start.
I experienced significant losses, and I have changed my investment methods by learning from my failures.

I did not have a high annual income either.
I continued to do what I could while saving money.

As a result, I have now built enough assets to live on even if I quit my job, and I have reached a point where I can think about my future life.

Asset formation has not been just about increasing wealth, but something I have continued in order to live with peace of mind and enjoy my own time.

From a life of accumulating to a life of spending.

I would like to make good use of the assets I have built up so far for the rest of my life.