Average age of investors

[trackers]

I am 67.
Brought my first share when I was 18 in 1967.
Travelled overseas from age 21 to 23.
Had all my capital and heavy borrowings in my retail book/toy shops until 1981,yet kept watching the markets .
Lost a great deal in 1987 crash,and GFC.
Think in another 15 to 20 years I may begin to understand the markets,however I am remain"well positioned".
Still enjoy my business of selling books to school libraries.

Well positioned! Love it Percy

Been investing via ASB Securities on NZX and ASX since I was 18 and am 34 now, so almost half my life and have still only scratched the surface as far as understanding goes

[TideMan]

68 here.
Still working, so I invest all my nat super in shares.
Our financial advisor is making a long term return on our main investment of 11% after tax and expenses.
My challenge is to beat him, but I'm way short. Negative, in fact.

[fungus pudding]

67. Retired many many years ago. Property investor and have quite a few listed property trusts shares. Don't bother with other shares cos I don't understand them. Only make a move if it's going to increase my income, so a collector rather than a trader. 'Keep stacking up the income' is my motto.

[ari]

First shares at 18 (UEB) and been in market ever since. Now 67 and still learning. Had some great gains with Tranz Rail and Fletcher Energy and I've weathered some huge losses, but still in there.
Always aimed to retire at 35, finally made it at 53 and became heavy day trader then got bored so built 2 houses on North Shore. Then purchased 3HA 20mins Nth and built our dream home plus 243m2 shed and now farm Alpacas. Getting bored again...perhaps I could write a book!

[BlackPeter]

Interesting .... and great to learn that there are that many young investors around. Always thought that I am one of the younger ones (well, it feels that way when I'm attending AGM's, but maybe this is just my youthful looks).

Still short of the 60'ies - but not by much.

Sort of retired a couple of years ago (after a working life in engineering and management) - and intended to do a better job with growing my retirement savings than my professional fund mangers did during my working life. So far it worked out for me ... but than, the standard the professionals set was not hard to beat either ...

[Bilbo]

Great to read this information. Knowing the posters age and investing background is useful when evaluating comments. The investment horizon of a 20 year old is much longer than that of a 70 year old and the 20 year old is likely to be comfortable with taking on more risk in exchange for greater reward.

I'm 47 and am investing for the long term still which means I favour small cap growth stocks over stable dividend payers. My first investments were after the 87 crash and I lost money. I dabbled a little over the years but only really started seriously investing in 2010.

I've learnt a lot from this forum and other sources, but the one throw away line which stands out for me is to "ride your winners and cut your losers" with the caveat that when your winner is way overvalued start selling and watch the moving averages to know when to exit.

[kiwichick]

I'm 29, female as well (in case you couldn't tell by my username). Started investing a few years ago with AIR shares - made a 50% return and spent it all on a trip to Europe. Now I'm getting my feet wet again, though it looks like I might need to branch out to other markets as the NZX is rather limiting. I'm a 50% index investor, 50% direct shares.

[vin]

26, started at 24

[iceman]

I'm 50. Been investing in shares for over 20 years. Work away overseas so try to have stocks in my portfolio that I'm comfortable holding without the need to check on them daily.

[777]

63. Started when 20. Made a fortune out of Brierley's and lost a fortune in '87. Recovered from that and will be able to live on my dividend stream for longer than my body is likely to last.

60% direct investor and 40% funds. Age has not changed my investment approach. Too much fun to go too passive. Tried being a trader but not as successful at that as being a longer term investor.