This is of course true. However, I look at two different things when it comes to fees/expenses:
- Transaction costs. These I can still control in a way … by choosing to make no/fewer transactions.
- Ongoing management fees. These I can do nothing about. Once I am “invested”, let’s say 20-30 years with embedded capital gains, I can’t do anything about it if they choose to increase management fees.
And we well know by now that even “higher” one-time transaction fees have MUCH less of an effect on overall net returns than those insidious ongoing “management fees” and “expenses” (the “skim”).
Well, my largest position consists of a stock that hadn’t paid a dividend, and that was one of the reasons I liked it so much. Then after a decade or two of owning it, they suddenly started paying a dividend, and not only that, they increase it every year! And sadly, Buffett is going to die, and then other people will take over, and other people may make different choices someday.