Try to keep your head, when all around are losing theirs

A decade ago, when I made an average of 50,000 yuan ($7,700) a year as a journalist, my attitude toward stock market investment was one of indifference. Even if I doubled that figure through buying and selling stocks, I would still be a poor man. Why bother?

Instead, I put all my savings in the bank, earning a paltry but stable interest income, even as my salary increased considerably over the years.

But people who have burnt their fingers in the recent stock market rout do not have to feel envious about my choice, because I now often wonder if I could have been financially better-off if I were one of those small retail investors.