I don’t mean to be critical, but most people invest through the rear-view mirror. They buy mutual funds after they have gone up substantially. They have bought into what I call the Sesame Street School of investing. They buy into the hottest fund, in the hottest sector, in the hottest country, from the hottest brokerage firm and the one that has the most “stars” next to it in Money magazine. Then what happens? You know the drill. They turn cold. In fairly short order, a perfectly normal market correction comes along. The cycle comes to an end. Investing like that is like enlisting in the Taliban on September 12th, 2001. Yes, you are joining the proudest fighting force in the world that day. Yes, your outfit just pulled off one of the greatest disasters of all time. But you know what? You are toast. Your obituary is written. It is all downhill. I have no wish to drive this message into the ground like a Cruise missile but I want to make one point very clear. Pay attention. At the end of an investor’s life, less than 5% of his total lifetime return will from what his investments did versus other investments. The other 95% will come from how the investor behaved.
You see, I have a firm belief that there is absolutely no relationship between investment performance and investor performance. Stock market success is a function of two things. One, recognition that the markets will go down and sometimes go down, a lot and two, prepare to regard those declines as either non-events or buying opportunities and never as an occasion to sell. With all certainty, I know that the most boring and mediocre stock fund in your portfolio, the one you hold onto during a vicious bear market is infinitely better than the world-class stock fund that you sell out of at the bottom of a temporary decline. The secret to making big money in stocks is to not get scared out of them. Americans, God bless them, are totally unable to distinguish between fluctuation and loss. The bottom line is this, and if you don’t believe me you have the right to be wrong, but don’t forget it, the higher your exposure to stocks as a percentage of your assets the better your overall return, over the long term. In the long run, no one controls our investment fate. We control it and bailing out of markets is like quitting a marathon because you get tired! You can't win if you aren't geared up to be in the game for the long haul.
You see, I have a firm belief that there is absolutely no relationship between investment performance and investor performance. Stock market success is a function of two things. One, recognition that the markets will go down and sometimes go down, a lot and two, prepare to regard those declines as either non-events or buying opportunities and never as an occasion to sell. With all certainty, I know that the most boring and mediocre stock fund in your portfolio, the one you hold onto during a vicious bear market is infinitely better than the world-class stock fund that you sell out of at the bottom of a temporary decline. The secret to making big money in stocks is to not get scared out of them. Americans, God bless them, are totally unable to distinguish between fluctuation and loss. The bottom line is this, and if you don’t believe me you have the right to be wrong, but don’t forget it, the higher your exposure to stocks as a percentage of your assets the better your overall return, over the long term. In the long run, no one controls our investment fate. We control it and bailing out of markets is like quitting a marathon because you get tired! You can't win if you aren't geared up to be in the game for the long haul.
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