Staying the course: Mark’s top articles in November
Morningstar’s Director of Personal Finance covered the election, his investment philosopy and the subtle art of doing nothing.
Jason Zweig writes the Intelligent Investor column for the Wall Street Journal which is published every weekend. He once said his job “is to write the exact same thing between 50 and 100 times a year in such a way that neither my editors nor my readers will ever think I am repeating myself.”
I reflect on this quote when thinking about my job and my goal of providing each reader with a little help when trying to get better investing outcomes. But I also think about it as an investor. There are some similarities between investing and writing about investing.
The easiest way to write about investing is to identify an event and tell investors what they should do in response. As the year draws to a close we are told how to position our portfolios for 2025. New political leadership means a new investment strategy.
The easiest thing to do as an investor is to follow this advice. Constantly adjusting your portfolio and strategy feels good. It makes you feel proactive and savvy. You sound smart at parties opining on how the advent of day light savings is the perfect time to rotate your portfolio.
The problem is that successful investing is often boring. It is coming up with a plan and sticking to it over decades. It is paying attention to fundamentals and ignoring hype.
Humility, patience and consistency are the three most important qualities for an investor. I emphasized these traits when exploring the impact of the US election.
Reaching your goals means understanding how your decisions will impact your outcomes. I explored the returns needed to achieve your retirement goal.
Financial literacy is lacking in Australia. One year 12 teacher is doing something about it. Can you solve the problem he gave to his students?
We need a philosophy to guide us over the long-term. Here are 5 quotes that underpin my financial philosophy.
November was a difficult month for our team as Graham Hand lost his battle with cancer. Read our tribute to this remarkable man.
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