by Silicon Valley Blogger on 2009-04-03 6

Sometimes, I wonder why some people always seem to make the best investment choices at just the right time, and are able to grow their portfolio regardless of the market environment. What makes some investors better than others?

Well, just like it is with any other activity, its all about honing your skills. For instance, becoming a great golfer is no easy feat. I have listened closely to great players like Tiger Woods to find out their secrets for being so successful. It turns out (theyll admit) that this success can be attributed to a small amount of natural talent and a huge amount of hard work.

Skilled investors start somewhere, and one important step theyve taken is to study and learn as much as they can about the investment markets. These days, you can find a lot of free educational materials from many online brokers.

Also, beyond the education and hard work, I believe that successful people all share the same kind of attributes, and its no different with great investors. I thought to put together a short list of what makes someone able to handle their investments so well.

Image by DayLife

How To Be A Good Stock Investor

Here are a few attributes to have in order to be on top of your money:

Patience: Someone who wants to get rich quick doesnt usually do too well with the stock market (or any market for that matter). Have you noticed that most of the wealthy investors are up in their years and have a lot of experience?

Diligence: Granted, you can make very good money as a passive investor by simply following an asset allocation program and indexing strategy. But you still need to be on top of your portfolio on a regular basis to make sure it remains on track. If youve decided to be a stock picker or someone who invests in other markets, you may have to invest additional time and energy in your investments. How much time are you willing to put into studying the markets? How many charts will you evaluate; how many wire reports will you read?

Discipline: Success in investing is often the result of functioning within a set of rules. If youve visited your discount broker. done your research and bought a stock or mutual fund for a long term investment. dont turn it into a short term trade. If youre a market timing trader, then be very familiar with the strategies or tricks of your trade (pun intended) when executing your transactions. We are often warned not to invest with emotion. Discipline entails that we follow the rules even when its against our emotions to do so.

Forward Thinking: The old cliche, think outside the box is where innovation starts. The best stock pickers have the ability to think ahead and possibly see the future: they can evaluate and foresee the next gadget that people cant live without or the next emerging market only a few years away from becoming a world leading economy. By getting on the bandwagon and following the crowd, Ive only made a modest amount of money, but those who can get on the right side of an investment pretty early are bound to do so much better.

Enjoys Learning: Personal finance and investing arent exactly rocket science, but its always a good thing to keep tabs on your investments and to continue learning about them on an ongoing basis. In fact, learning about new investments may not only expand your ideas but also open your mind to new lucrative investment opportunities that may be worth exploring.

Tiger Woods has achieved just about everything that can be achieved in the world of golf. Still, though, he is regarded as one of the hardest working players in the game. He understands his game in a way that so many other golfers dont. If were to keep up with our own financial game, we need to stay alert and aware of whats going on with our money, especially when our funds are put at risk in the markets.

Categorized under: Investment Written by SVB