As analyzed by blogdaughter Teresa of Technicalities.

I really hate that Teresa habitually writes such comprehensive and well-thought-out posts, because it means I don't link her because I have nothing to add.

She probably thinks I don't love her anymore... which isn't true - she's still daddy's favorite.

However, there IS a little left to say this time:

6. YouÂ’re not tempted to invest in something because of a hot tip you get from a friend or relative.
Do people really get hot tips from others? I never have.

Once. From a good friend who I considered market savvy. I looked at the company's financials, and they seemed sound enough. I was interested because they had an audacious plan for launching a nationwide towing service to compete with AAA. If it worked, I'd make a fortune.

Didn't work. It's currently worth about 15% of what I paid for it. Oops.

Then about 5 years ago I bought some Motorola stock because I heard they were going to start licensing their technology, which I thought would make them some money. The stock price is just now topping what I paid for it. Oops.

Since then, I've become more of a no-load, index-mirroring, mutual fund kind of guy.

9. You owe nothing on the vehicle you drive.
Currently - no we don't. Although with the prices of vehicles today - it's nearly impossible to buy outright unless you get a piece of junk. So, get the smallest loan time you can get - and pay off as quickly as possible if you are unable to pay outright.

I disagree with Teresa's assessment on this. I buy sub-$2000 cars every time and drive them until they're not worth fixing anymore. They're usually rusty-fendered, but mechanically reliable. My theory being that - in the long run - I'm better off buying five $2000 cars than one $10,000 car.

Then again, I consider my car nothing more than a way to get from here to there, so how it looks isn't important to me.

11. When hearing that the S&P 500 Index just hit an all-time high, you are not inclined to call your broker with a buy order.
Don't have a broker - don't want one either... but I still wouldn't do it even if I could - it makes no sense to buy at the all-time high!

I wouldn't say NO sense. What makes no sense is never buying in at all, because you're too worried that you'll be buying at an all-time high. You can't really time the market, so just buy whenever. It'll hit a new record high eventually, and then you'll feel smart.

Other than that, Teresa pretty much says everything that needs to be said.

Again :-)

Posted by: Harvey at 04:27 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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