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You have to understand what market history looks like. What market history tells you is that the very, very best investments are made when things look the worst.

William J. Bernstein

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William J. Bernstein
Age: 76
Born: 1948
Born: January 1
Author
Chemist
Economist
Neurologist
Writer
Looks
Tells
Made
Investment
Things
Market
Like
Worst
Understand
History
Best
Look
Investments

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There are two kinds of investors, be thay large or small: those who don't know where the market is headed, and those who don't know that they don't know.
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Wall Street is littered with the bones of those who knew just what to do, but could not bring themselves to do it.
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The purpose of investing is not to simply optimise returns and make yourself rich. The purpose is not to die poor.
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When it comes to fund managers and market strategists, this year's hero usually turns into next year's zero.
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The typical fund company services 401k plan participants in the same way that Baby Face Nelson serviced banks.
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The reason that 'guru' is such a popular word is because 'charlatan' is so hard to spell.
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99% of fund managers demonstrate no evidence of skill whatsoever.
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Bluntly put, there's no chance that your doctor, dentist, or attorney is a high-school dropout. Your stockbroker, however, just might be.
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If your broker or investment advisor is not familiar with the concept of standard deviation of returns, get a new one.
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Investment success accrues not so much to the brilliant as to the disciplined.
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The deeper one delves, the worse things look for actively managed funds.
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Do the math. Expect catastrophes. Whatever happens, stay the course.
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All the things that make us human make us terrible investors and you have to understand what they are and how to avoid them.
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No one in his right mind would walk into the cockpit of an airplane and try to fly it, or into an operating theater and open a belly. And yet they think nothing of managing their retirement assets. I've done all three, and I'm here to tell you that managing money is, in its most critical elements even more demanding than the first two.
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The key aspect of an index fund is that many of them, not all of them, but many of them are extremely cheap.
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Mutual fund manager performance does not persist and the return of stock picking is zero.
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The key thing about any fund is to make sure its expenses are low. You know, if you look at the funds in your plan and you see that they're all charging 1.5 and 2 percent,you've gota bad plan.
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You have to ask yourself, what are the things that matter to you most in your life? If you have to have a latte every day that'snice to have right now, but if you take that latte every day right now, you may wind up eating cat food when you are 70. And you have to decide which is worse.
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It's bad enough that you have to take market risk. Only a fool takes on the additional risk of doing yet more damage by failing to diversify properly with his or her nest egg. Avoid the problem-buy a well-run index fund and own the whole market.
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A fast food job, for most people, should be an entry level position. If you see no path for advancement beyond that, it's time to take a real fast look at your human capital and learn a skill that will make you more money.
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