It seems market-makers are waiting for further news on a Covid-19 vaccine before piling into UK shares again. More positive updates from Big Pharma on a coronavirus battler would drive prices through the roof again, as they did in early November. Disappointing updates on one or more of those vaccines in development would send UK share prices careering in the opposite direction.
The Covid-19 vaccine might take longer to come than many UK share investors expect. As a consequence, the electrifying economic recovery many are hoping for in 2021 might not happen at all. But this isn’t keeping me awake at night. I know the global economy will rebound at some point. History shows us it always does. And, as someone who buys UK shares with a view to holding them for a bare minimum of 10 years, I can afford to be patient.
Buying UK shares for the long term
I don’t invest in stocks to make a quick buck. As the stock market crash of 2020 shows, buying UK shares based solely on how you think their prices will move in the short term can end up making a big hole in an investor’s pocket.
This is where the advantage of investing with the intention of clinging onto those shares for years rather than weeks and months comes into play. It saves UK share investors from the discomfort and the cost associated with stock market volatility. Those that take the time to research to find quality stocks can expect to make big returns over the long term (say a decade, or more).
Making millions!
Studies show long-term investors like me tend to make an average annual return of between 8% and 10%. These sorts of figures mean someone doesn’t need to invest bucketloads of cash in order to make a serious cash pot for retirement.
Let’s look at a prospective investor aged 30 with nothing in the bank by way of savings or investments. If they were to invest £300 a month in UK shares they could, by the time they reach the current State Pension age of 66, realistically expect to have made anywhere between a whopping £697,900 and £1.13m to retire on.
Investing in UK shares is clearly a great way to try and make a million. And investments can be supercharged towards stock market millionaire status by buying after stock market crashes. This is how the number of Stocks and Shares ISA investors ballooned in the years after the 2008/2009 stock market crash.
There’s no reason why I can’t also make big returns following this year’s share market correction either. It’s why I’ve kept buying UK shares for my own ISA despite the uncertain near-term economic outlook. And there’s plenty more top-quality stocks I’m thinking of buying at current knock-down prices too.
