Thread by @brucefenton

As recently as the early 90s, investors had little idea what their portfolios were worth on a daily basis. Stock quotes were published in newspapers. Only professionals had real time stock quotes. To learn your account balance, you had to call your broker or wait for a statement.

Statements came out quarterly in most cases. Monthly statements were uncommon - and remember, this was all by physical mail.
Day trading was far more rare than today.
This created more long term thinking for many investors.
Wise investors had a plan and would stick to it.

Today we have a plethora of information we can access & act on instantly. Those who make money from this model encourage active trading, but it is antithetical to sound investing. Looking at your account daily & trading daily is more often a formula for ruin than wealth creation.

Break from the noise to find the signal.
Back to basics:

Markets are driven by fear and greed. Know this.
Have a plan.
Be diversified.
Be patient.
Be selective.
Only actively trade of it’s your vocation and you can beat the pros consistently AND make up for the time it takes.

Risk is the wealth killer.
Avoid it when possible, manage it & think about it constantly. Think about all types of risks including the risk that you are wrong or that those you listen to are wrong.
It’s far better to hit consistently than break your arm trying to hit home runs.

Deeply understand what you invest in.
Know what it is, why it has value, have a thesis, understand how it fits with the rest of your portfolio & constantly reevaluate.
Live beneath your means. Add to your portfolio with income & keep expenses low - especially fixed expenses.

And lastly, for those just starting out— hang around winners. Losers are real.
Learn to identify losers and avoid them like the plague.

Get to a geographic area and as close as possible to a peer group who are winners and who understand and have a positive mindset on wealth. 🚀