Richardcyoung.com

  • Home
  • Debbie Young
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Key West
  • Your Survival Guy
  • How We Are Different
  • Paris
  • About Us
    • Foundation Principles
    • Contributors
  • Investing
    • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • The Swiss Way
  • My Rifles
  • Dividends and Compounding
  • Your Security
  • Dick Young
  • Dick’s R&B Top 100
  • Liberty & Freedom Map
  • Bank Credit & Money
  • Your Survival Guy’s Super States
  • NNT & Cholesterol
  • Your Health
  • Ron Paul
  • US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool
  • Anti-Gun Control
  • Anti-Digital Currency
  • Joel Salatin & Alfie Oakes
  • World Gold Mine Production
  • Fidelity & Wellington Since 1971
  • Hillsdale College
  • Babson College
  • Contact Us

Most Investors Fail to Learn This One Thing

August 2, 2019 By Richard C. Young

By Tang Yan Song @ Shutterstock.com

Through more than half a century of guiding investors in their efforts, the greatest failure I have seen is an inability to learn from history. Repeatedly market participants set unrealistic goals, use overly complex strategies in an attempt to achieve those goals, and inevitably fail. In February of 2013 I explained this phenomenon, writing:

The Needy Investor

Most investors, I’m sorry to say, are greedy, lack perspective and even a modicum of patience, and simply will not embrace the ultimate power of compound interest. I have found that too many investors fail to learn from history and attempt to use projected portfolio appreciation to make up for past beatings or to meet unrealistic spending targets. These investors are what I refer to as needy, and hope is used as their strategy. They eschew common sense and reality, and are always reaching and grasping at thin air. I have found it impossible to influence this group of investors and have long since given up the effort. Both a former Harley mechanic and my current Harley mechanic have told me that they were breaking down Harleys since they were little guys. I have watched what they do with amazement, much as I do with the many jazz musicians I have studied over the decades. Whether a Harley mechanic or a jazz musician, it’s an aptitude one is born with. The same is true for the intuitive investor. Investors like you have the propensity to do the right thing. Investors who are needy will never get on the right track.

Keep It Simple, Stupid

Your next step is on the fixed-income front. You want short maturities and short portfolio duration. On the equities side, you want solid, blue-chip dividend payers with a propensity for increasing dividends. You want entrenched blue chips featuring a high barrier to entry. You never deviate from such companies. You do not guess market swings and market-time. You swear you will be patient and not greedy. Am I clear here? You may be a genius or know a genius that has a better master plan than mine. Great. But four decades ago, Ron Hoenig hired me to work at his institutional research and trading firm where he told me that he specialized in the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle. Ron turns out to have been correct at every turn, and today, on your behalf and mine, I continue to stick with the SIMPLE approach.

In your efforts to invest successfully, I can give you no greater advice than to 1) don’t be a needy investor who sets unrealistic goals, and 2) keep your investing strategies simple and understandable. It should not be difficult for you to explain your investment strategy to your 10-year-old grandchild, let alone your spouse.

Originally posted on Young’s World Money Forecast.

If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for my free weekly email.

Related Posts

  • It’s Time For Investors to Focus on Treasuries
  • Three Dangerous Traps Investors Face
  • Learn How Risk Reward & Time Are Related
  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young
Richard C. Young is the editor of Young's World Money Forecast, and a contributing editor to both Richardcyoung.com and Youngresearch.com.
Richard C. Young
Latest posts by Richard C. Young (see all)
  • Most Secure Border in History - July 3, 2025
  • Can Peace Hold with a Defiant Iran? - July 3, 2025
  • Democrats Aiming for Self Destruction? - July 2, 2025

Dick Young’s Must Reads

  • RAPPOPORT: War Applauded by “Stone Cold Utopians”
  • The Biden Cabal Wants to Stop the Use of Clean, Safe, Domestic Natural Gas
  • Why You Miss Richard C. Young’s Monster Master List
  • Your Survival Guy at Fidelity and Your RMD Compliance
  • Yes, Your Children Are Listening to You
  • The Common Ground of Democracy is Sinking Beneath Americans’ Feet
  • You’ve Read The Last Issue of Intelligence Report, Now What?
  • YOU DESERVE FREEDOM: Your Hard Work Will Make It Happen
  • Thanks to America’s Worst President
  • Families to Step up and Be Family Again

Our Most Popular Posts

  • Just Don’t Call It “Obliterated”
  • A True America First Foreign Policy
  • What Is Tim Walz's Connection to China?
  • "Surrounded by an Armed Country"
  • NYC's Mamdani: The More You Know, the Worse It Gets
  • China’s Silent Strike: Weapon Targets Electrical Infrastructure
  • The Ugliness of Political Warfare
  • Naturalized Criminals Set to Lose American Citizenship
  • Survive and Thrive June 2025: The Lay of the Land: Who Can You Trust?
  • Smartphone Satellite Communications Are Here

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

RSS Youngresearch.com

  • Survival Guy: An All-Weather Balanced Portfolio
  • A Bazooka Fired at Private Equity
  • US Trade Deficit Widens in May
  • Job Gains Light Up the Labor Market
  • U.S. Eases Chip Software Restrictions, Boosting Tech Trade with China
  • NYC, Crypto, ESG, the Haves and the Have-Yachts
  • Trump Announces Vietnam Trade Deal
  • Nuclear Surpasses Coal in U.S. Energy Mix for the First Time
  • Grand Theft Cargo: California’s Cargo Thefts Thrive
  • Every 50 Minutes: The Alarming Pace of Cargo Theft in Mexico

RSS Yoursurvivalguy.com

  • Survival Guy: An All-Weather Balanced Portfolio
  • A Bazooka Fired at Private Equity
  • NYC, Crypto, ESG, the Haves and the Have-Yachts
  • “Behind Every Blade of Grass”
  • Beware the ‘Democratization’ of Investing
  • Survive and Thrive June 2025: The Lay of the Land: Who Can You Trust?
  • Dividends: “Because It Works”
  • “Surrounded by an Armed Country”
  • Every Family Should Own at Least One Shotgun: Here Are Three
  • What’s the Best Gun for Home Defense?

US Treasury Yield Curve: My Favorite Investor Tool

My Key West Garden Office

Your Retirement Life: Traveling the Efficient Frontier

Live a Long Life

Your Survival Guy’s Mt. Rushmore of Investing Legends

“Then One Day the Grandfather was Gone”

Copyright © 2025 | Terms & Conditions | About Us | Dick Young | Archives