Comments on: What Makes Investing Hard? http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html like a friend telling you about money ... Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:48:24 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: Braveheart http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html/comment-page-1#comment-2782 Braveheart Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:07:30 +0000 http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html#comment-2782 TFB, You made some really good points in this post. IMO people get caught up in the hottest stocks, trends, etc. and eventually get "off course" of their investment goals. A disciplined investment strategy is essential to meeting your objectives. You need to make sure your investment portfolio is being compared to independent benchmarks, whether you manage it yourself or hire an adviser. In addition, an objective third party should evaluate your long-term performance and portfolio to ensure you're still "on the course." Remember that realistic expectations go a long way when developing investment objectives. TFB,

You made some really good points in this post. IMO people get caught up in the hottest stocks, trends, etc. and eventually get “off course” of their investment goals. A disciplined investment strategy is essential to meeting your objectives. You need to make sure your investment portfolio is being compared to independent benchmarks, whether you manage it yourself or hire an adviser. In addition, an objective third party should evaluate your long-term performance and portfolio to ensure you’re still “on the course.” Remember that realistic expectations go a long way when developing investment objectives.

]]> By: TFB http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html/comment-page-1#comment-2756 TFB Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:25:39 +0000 http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html#comment-2756 KD - You can probably tell that I agree with you. Dollar cost average into a sensible asset allocation looks like a simple, sound, ex ante strategy that will lead to a good outcome. The problem is that other people have different ideas: <a href="http://thefinancebuff.com/2007/08/magic-formula-investing-will-it-work.html" rel="nofollow">magic formula</a>, <a href="http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/01/book-review-rule-1-by-phil-town.html" rel="nofollow">Rule #1</a>, <a href="http://thefinancebuff.com/2007/01/book-review-elliott-wave-principle.html" rel="nofollow">Elliott wave</a>, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=962461" rel="nofollow">simple moving average</a>, you name it. They all point to historical records. We also have testimonies from current followers for how the method worked for them, as you will see in the comments to Rule #1. KD – You can probably tell that I agree with you. Dollar cost average into a sensible asset allocation looks like a simple, sound, ex ante strategy that will lead to a good outcome. The problem is that other people have different ideas: magic formula, Rule #1, Elliott wave, simple moving average, you name it. They all point to historical records. We also have testimonies from current followers for how the method worked for them, as you will see in the comments to Rule #1.

]]> By: KD http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html/comment-page-1#comment-2755 KD Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:40:29 +0000 http://thefinancebuff.com/2009/10/what-makes-investing-hard.html#comment-2755 TFB, I really liked this post. Thanks. I agree with the notion that sound strategy does not equal sound outcome in investing because of risk. That does not mean one should have a casino mentality. For the fiscal year 2009 (1 Oct 2008 - 30 Sept 2009), I made my disciplined DCA retirement contributions and came up with a 20% gain for the year. Not bad at all but it isn't great either considering the market movement from March 2009 to Sept 2009. But I didn't have to worry the whole year about when to invest and if I had invested at the right time. So a sound strategy removed my notional second guessing and in investing that is invaluable. TFB, I really liked this post. Thanks. I agree with the notion that sound strategy does not equal sound outcome in investing because of risk. That does not mean one should have a casino mentality. For the fiscal year 2009 (1 Oct 2008 – 30 Sept 2009), I made my disciplined DCA retirement contributions and came up with a 20% gain for the year. Not bad at all but it isn’t great either considering the market movement from March 2009 to Sept 2009. But I didn’t have to worry the whole year about when to invest and if I had invested at the right time. So a sound strategy removed my notional second guessing and in investing that is invaluable.

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