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In my last blog post, I discussed Faith in the Future as the first key to investment success. The second key is Patience.

The first key needed to obtain investment success is to have a resounding "faith in the future".

Rising markets have two very negative and interconnected effects. First, a rising market facilitates unrealistic hopes and high expectations about future stock returns. Second, a rising stock market actually lowers the future expected returns.

One of the hardest things for investors to focus on is the long-term. Instead, investors are very focused on the day/week/month/quarter, etc. It is a "what have you done for me lately" outlook to investing.

Wow. Investing sure is easy in recent years! Just look at the chart below which shows that the the S&P 500 has provided average annual returns of over 18% over the last five years (assuming you were fully invested in March of 2009).

Are you a saver who prefers certainty, or an investor who desires the opportunity for higher returns at the expense of safety? Which emotion do you feel more when you think about investing: fear or euphoria?

The U.S. stock market has just completed an almost five-year bull market, finishing with not only its best year since 1997, but a startlingly wonderful month and final day of the year.

In 2013, there was much to worry about. Not only did we start the year headed off the fiscal cliff, but interest rates rose, bonds got hammered, tax-rates climbed, and the government shut down. YET equities soared with YTD U.S. stock returns the highest seen in a decade. This has been an excellent lesson in the disconnectedness of news and market returns.