Sound Advice

By Dian Vujovich

Every now and then I run across some really simple yet wise investing advice. The latest comes from a recent Litman/Gregory “No-Load Fund Analyst” newsletter.

The subjects they were addressing were about whether the market’s upheaval over the past year(s) had shaken investors’ faith and if, perhaps, it was time to change the way we invest.

Their piece was written from an investment advisor’s point of view but applies to all individual investors who have a say in managing their money as well.

Here’s some of what was contained in that June 2009 newsletter:

“We have always believed that making good investment decisions, even through very difficult periods, must start with a confident and intellectually well-founded commitment to a sensible, rational set of investment beliefs. A good approach:

• relies on analysis and not emotion to make decisions

• is grounded in hard work and fundamental research

• values intellectual honesty and recognizes that uncertainly will always be present, but that we must be able to make decisions in the face of uncertainty, and that accepts that we won’t always be right

• is based on principles that remain valid no matter how difficult the period…”

That part about accepting that “we won’t always be right” is really good to remember. No one ever is. And as batting averages have always shown, you don’t have to hit a home run every time you’re at bat to be a winner. The same is true about making money on Wall Street, or in real estate, or the commodities markets, or simply in life.

Info on Littman/Gregory and their newsletter available at: http://www.nlfa.com.