Investors Should Avoid...?

Investors Should Avoid…What?

By Warren Boroson

On Facebook, Vanguard recently posed a good question.

Namely, “Investors should avoid…?”

My first answer was: “Paying attention to stock tips.”

My considered answer: “Losing money.” Not that it’s avoidable if you truly invest. Someone once told me he never, ever lost money in the stock market. I passed  that comment along to a famous investor. His reply: “That person isn’t taking enough risk.”

         Even so, trying to avoid losses, reasonably, is a fine idea. If you invest $100 and lose $50, or 50%, you have to make 100% to get back to where you were. Because the money you’ve been left with, $50, is so much smaller than the money you originally had.

          Other answers:

         “Having children.” –Hector Peralta

         “Letting emotions drive their investments.” – Sharida Jackson (Like greed and fear?)

        “CNBC.” -- Rajneesh Kumar

       “Advisers - learn enough to do it yourself at Vanguard.” – Greg Morgen

         “Trying to time the market.” – Penny Brelad de Vries

         “Panic.” -- Brenda L. Moss 

            “High expense ratios.” – Christopher Lundgren

   “Tax man.“ – Fernando Dizon (Or woman.)

          ”Stock brokers.”—John Petocz

         “Hubris. The belief that they have some special knowledge about the markets.”—Susanna Gross

        “All of the ‘noise.’”-- Joseph Harris 

         “High fees and hedge funds.” -- Don Gaines 

         “Jim Cramer.” -- Adam Prowatzke 

    “Procrastinanting.”-- Jason Johnson 

   “Load funds.”—Kevin Dowd

   “Trading.” -- Troy Torrison 

   “Undersaving. 20% is the new bare minimum.”-- Nathan Green 

                                  ***

        My own re-considered answer: “Almost all of the above.”