Cooking The Books

OPINION: Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's why you need to expect investments to go bad, and what you can do about it. Hosted by Frances Cook.It's the age old advice: shares are a great investment for building up personal wealth, as long as you can stomach the risk.Over ten years, you're likely to get a sizeable return. But within that decade, be prepared to grit your teeth through some years where your money goes backwards.That was proved true within the last week, with Fletcher Building having an absolute nightmare.They had their second profit downgrade for this year, their share price plunged to a 16 month low, and now the CEO has bailed and is being replaced.Yep, that's a bad week. But let's be honest, this happens. I personally think that everyone who can invest, should, and we'd all be a lot better off financially.But if you dabble, you have to expect to take a hit now and then.Forewarned is forearmed, as they say, and if y