BARRY J from TX posted about 1 year ago:

Jenna, #1 this article is timely. WSJ's Jason Zweig published an article on the "3 P's" that made Warren Buffett the nonpareilled preternatural wizard of investing. #2 Also today Christine Benz of Morningstar published an article on how to create a minimalist portfolio you don't have to babysit. #3 My experience from reading several hundred AAII member comments (including mine) is that we ALL think we are mini-Buffetts. #4 The most well-intended graduation "present" of investing advice to any other investor would be "wrapped" in the "penumbras and emanations" of our idiosyncratic views about investing basics - (1) defining risk (there is a big dispute here), (2) assessing risk tolerance systematically (every such tool I have ever in use is too simplistic including PRISM), (3) asset selection (ranges from minimalist -- 1-3 low-cost total market ETFs -- to complex -- varieties of multinational and "volatility-balanced" assets - including portfolios built on any of the 60+ AAII screens) - and the value of rebalancing (from quarterly to "What, me worry?") that would model a standard distribution of the independent opinions. #5 My point is that investing recommendations are highly personalized (as they should be) and biased by personal opinions (as they are) that conveniently omit mention of the HUGE impact of the "invisible hand" of LUCK more than every individual investor's presumed skill levels played in whatever returns any portfolio produced. #6 My youngest granddaughter graduates this Friday. I have set up a trust for her to be administered by her parents. I will let them advise her. They have done a great job so far. #7 I KNOW any investing results I have achieved are mostly due to LUCK. Luck is something I cannot pass on. #8 Making your own decisions and living with the outcomes is what life is all about. Maybe the best present would be a "lucky" coin to help her make her own decisions. As Chuck Berry sang in 1964, "C'est la vie" said the ol' folks, I just goes to show you never can tell."

ROBERT A from NC posted about 1 year ago:

Correction, Barry: We all WANT to be mini-Buffetts! ;) I love reading posts from people who are in a comfortable retirement and discuss how they got there. Indeed, there is a wide variety of views and traits, but there does seem to be one commonality that repeats itself more often than others. That is, most financially successful people have taken a long-term view. I haven't read many (or any, actually) posts from people who "traded" their way to wealth. Many seem to be trying to BECOME wealthy that way, but those of us who have "made it" are usually in the steady-as-she-goes, stay-the-course camp. As for luck, we are all exceptionally lucky to live in a country that offers so much opportunity. We are lucky to be living in this time of enormous prosperity that our ancestors could not have even dreamed about. Beyond those aspects of luck, prudence and hard work tend to enhance it greatly. Prudent, sustained effort over time seems to draw it like a moth to a flame.