With decades of experience, you know what works best.
We're always going on about how a long-term buy and hold approach is the way to go, but how many of us actually have experience of watching lots of different investment portfolios over the course of several decades? TMFPyad has...
"For a very long time I ran my own accountancy practice. For some reason we had a number of private investors amongst our clients so I was in the privileged position of being able to observe their results"
And what did he learn?
"...the first thing that was quite clear to me is that most people who trade shares regularly in order to make gains will fail at it over time.
The second thing that became obvious was the complete reverse. Those who merely sat on their shares for lengthy periods, quite often with no interest, monitoring or even the faintest idea of what was happening, did remarkably well, especially where they held portfolios of blue chips"
It's a great thread -- one of the best discussions of long-term investing we've seen in a while.
Banker sues house-seller
Amidst the angst that has surrounded the property market and the banking sector of late, SirXYZ uncovered an intriguing story in the Daily Mail...
"A wealthy banker is suing a couple who sold him a £1.9million riverside house after complaining that the garden is regularly flooded.
Adrian Howd says he and his wife Caroline were 'deeply shocked' when the saw water creeping up the 140ft-long lawn of their family home.."
Bankers are possibly not the most popular of people these days, and opinions on the subsequent discussion are split pretty much down the middle.
A pleasant problem
When people post about their problems on the Living Below Your Means board, it's usually because they're struggling to make ends meet (or perhaps because they've lost the instructions for their breadmaker). So it's really nice to read about someone presented with a happy problem for a change, like the one mjj67 is faced with...
"I am in the pleasant position of being within my means for the first time in 6 years. I have probably £400-500 more coming in each month than my outgoings. I have no debt outside my mortgage."
What to do with the spare cash is the problem -- pay down the mortgage, build up an emergency cash stash, invest in an ISA, all three? There's no shortage of sound advice in the thread.
Kraft to create jobs?
US food giant Kraft has succeeded in its bid to takeover Cadbury (LSE: CBRY), and as emptybarrel notes, Kraft's executive vice president Michael Osanloo thinks this is good for jobs, saying...
"I would fully expect that once we can actually look at what is going on and have a more informed perspective that this should, down the road, increase manufacturing jobs in the UK."
Well, Fools can be a cynical lot at times (though, given their nature, it usually tends to be a healthy cynicism), and not everyone is convinced by Mr Osanloo's rosy outlook, including widowerandorphan...
"Like most big takeovers, this one will destroy value for everyone except for the bankers and lawyers who put it together.
Kraft is a low growth food company with a poor record compared to Nestle and Unilever. Having failed to er, sell more stuff (the usual business thang), it got its shareholders' cheque book out in time honoured fashion for want of anything else to do."
Read on for an astute analysis which, judging by the recommendations it got, a lot of people agree with.
Mini happy dance
And finally, StarryEyedFool33 has achieved a milestone on the long road to becoming debt-free...
"This is a belated mini happy dance - belated as I only realised it today! On paper we are IN THE BLACK!!"
Well done Starry -- we look forward to reading about the big dance in a few months time.
Finally, this coming Tuesday, February 2nd, it's our regular London social. Here are the details if you want to pop along and meet some Fools.
Last week's roundup: Private Investors Aren't Stupid!
