Those of us who post a lot, and lead the board in a sense, often have no real idea of how many peoples’ lives we are changing for the better, how many people benefit from what we are teaching freely, but who never feel comfortable in posting themselves. I get a lot of email thanks from them and here are a couple (slightly edited) from widely disparate backgrounds, from a high school student and an airline pilot, that I think will make you feel good about what we are accomplishing here.
Best,
Saul
Dear Saul, This won’t be very long, mainly because I have a Physics test tomorrow, but I want you to know how thankful I am for you. Anyways, I am a 17-year-old in high school and I have always been interested in investing. Like many, I started with the captivating propositions, like Bitcoin. Then I shifted to r/wallstreetbets and realized it was basically gambling. Then, after weeks of looking around the internet, I found the Motley fool. A day later I found your Board. I was amazed - both because of the way this board discussed stocks - and the insane returns.
I was sold. I invested every penny I had saved since 6th grade (In hindsight, could have gone very wrong). Just like the lady who wrote the letter above, I also invested right at the peak, so I lost amounts of money that would make me physically sick (I don’t even flinch on downturns now). I was terrified.
Fast forward 5 months or so, this has been the best decision of my life. I’m up 4 times what the S&P has done in the same time span. I finally have the ability to actually retire before 30 - which was a major goal of mine. Investing has become my biggest hobby by far. I spend way too much time reading the board and articles. I write monthly reports about my stocks and how they’re doing and send them to my parents.
The coolest sense of accomplishment was during the stock market unit in economics class. The teacher of the class spewed the same “You can’t beat the market” nonsense. I disagreed with her, so she said to prove it. She had us play a virtual stock market game (paper trading) in coordination with the unit. 30 days in, I’m first in the class by QUINTUPLE the second place person. Not only are my classmates copying my stocks, the teacher asked how I did it. I pointed her to this board.
So you have given a kid a feasible path to his dream, shaped his choice of career, allowed his parents to have a much more comfortable retirement, gotten the rest of the class to admire him, and gave him a full grade boost for winning. For that, I thank you. There are countless others that are silent that you are helping too. You, and everyone else who contributes to the board, are amazing, and forever appreciated. Cheers, Exxxx
Thanks Saul - Once again you cut through the “fog of investing noise” and provide cogent, well founded and easily digestible thoughts regarding stocks. I have learned that it takes thousands of hours of work and years of experience on your part, and on the parts of the other regular contributers, to develop your decision making abilities. And there is no reason, other than kindness on your parts, for sharing it with us neophyte investors. I have been following the board closely for two and a half years and while I have not achieved the ROI that most of you have in any year, I have changed my families financial comfortability as I entered mandatory retirement in June.
I also introduced TMF and the Saul Board to many co-pilots I flew with by showing them how it can change their life. When I retired I received congratulatory notes from several pilots saying that “introducing them to Saul’s board” had indeed changed their families lives - especially facing the prospects of furlough from their flying career.
I am sorry for being so verbose - but I would be remiss if I didn’t thank you all for the positive impact you have on so many peoples lives. That is a tremendous legacy. Many, many thanks, Best wishes, Gxxxx