In a recent podcast episode, Pierre Taljaard and I shared our best quotes on investing. Pierre is based in South Africa, where he runs a company called Simple Wealth. He’s also a co-host of Humans Under Management, my behavioural financial advice conference in South Africa.
Click here to listen to the podcast episode.
What Didn’t Make the Cut
Choosing a top 10 is extremely difficult. Here are a few of the quotes that didn’t make the cut!
“Men, it has been well said, think in herds. It will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” - Charles MacKay, Scottish poet and journalist
“Rapidly changing industries are the enemy of the investor”. - Mohnish Pabrai, American businessman
“In the business world, the rear-view mirror is always clearer than the windshield.” - Warren Buffet
“Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” - Donald Trump
“Wall Street sells stocks and bonds, but what it really peddles is hope.” - Jason Zweig, Wall Street Journal writer
“Nobody knows nothing.” - John “Jack” Bogle
“More people lost money waiting for corrections and anticipating corrections than the actual corrections”. - Fidelity Manager Peter Lynch
“I love quotes… but in the end, knowledge has to be converted to action or it’s worthless.” - Tony Robbins
“If you see a bandwagon, it's too late”. - British financier James Goldsmith
Pierre’s Top 10 Investing Quotes
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9. The following quote is one I used it to open the entire HUM conference series.
8. The pandemic-induced dip in the market in March 2020 reminded us of the following quote..
7. One of the key lessons every financial literate understands is the magic of owning the great companies of the world.
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2. The financial literate knows that you can’t get rid of volatility without giving up returns.
1. Pierre’s top quote perfectly sums up what we stand for and how we lead clients through their financial journey.
Andy’s Top 10 Investing Quotes
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5. I like this quote because so many people carry around negative stock market stories of how ‘the stock market did this, the stock market did that.’ The stock market did nothing; you’ve caused all the problems.
4. We know that in the long term, the stock markets far outperform inflation, and that’s really the only metric you should be concerned about. I like that – people are so concerned about ‘the now’ and ‘the now investing’ that they disregard the weight of history.
3. I’ve talked before about the -50% and we might be heading towards a bigger number than that, but I go all in on volatility. It’s tough financial love.
2. Just because it feels comfortable doesn’t mean it’s financially right. Yes, you’ll be able to sleep well at night if you choose the emotional answer, and you’ll be convinced it’s the right answer, but it’s often not. If you were a financial robot, you’d take a different path, because you could just remove the emotions.
In other times of your life, overstretching yourself and buying an asset when you’re in your 30s and 40s might feel uncomfortable, but you’ll reap the rewards when you’re 50 or 60 and you’ve built the wealth.
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We noticed there were three common themes – patience, compound interest and simplicity.
This was Pierre’s first appearance on the podcast, but I’m sure it won’t be his last. If you want to find out more about him, visit his website: simplewealth.co.za.