Hi John, I do accept it as insurance, but, I guess, not as a means of “investing”.
The stockmarket goes up over time.
The average increase in stock prices is captured by an index fund.
So, compared to the index fund, investing in stocks is a zero-sum game. And Saul, you play that game quite effectively it seems.
compared to the index fund, investing in stocks is a zero-sum game.
For most this must be true mathematically (I think)
But compared to keeping your money in a mattress both are positive sum games. Not always, but the vast majority of the time . Long term. But as mortals, especially since most of us didn’t save as much when young as we should have, the true long term may not apply.
We may die before the long term arrives, or need to spend our capital to eat.
Harvard endowment has advantages we don’t have, including not paying income taxes.