Investing’s 7 Deadly Temptations
A lie can be halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on.
—CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON
RULE #3 described the sort of noise you’ll hear from Wall Street and the mainstream securities industry. Now the seven chapters of Part II will explain why almost all of that noise merely causes confusion and even sheer delusion, in many cases. The financial industry’s typical counterarguments only contribute to the misperception that many people think investing is too complicated for them and thus they need “expert” help.
We admit that the noise is very tempting—it’s a siren song. When you listen to Wall Street and the mainstream financial industry, you’ll think that they’re offering ways to make more money with your investments than you could make with much less help, using a simpler method. You’ll have to remind yourself, over and over again, not to listen.
In Part II, we elaborate on many of the enticements that strive to make you believe that you need an expert to manage your money—or at least to steer you through the confusion, using sophisticated advice that relies on complicated models and arcane information. We call these the 7 Deadly Temptations, but know that more than these core seven exist. Our bottom-line recommendation is that you stick to the simplest possible investment strategy and, ignoring Wall Street’s siren song, don’t vary from it.