How do you think of yourself as an investor?

[Markola]

How to you think of yourself as an investor?

I’m a Fiddler who has taken many steps to hide the bow from myself, leading to above-average results.

 

[W2R]

I put that I am above average because most investors aren't as good at it as our forum members are. They don't have a clue about even "buy and hold", which is my investment style and one that works nicely for me.

But I am not one of those investment guru types, and I never invest in a solitary stock; I just invest in a handful of broad mutual funds like Total Stock Market. Nobody will ever say, "Oh that W2R, she made a KILLING in the stock market!" They'll just say "Oh, W2R? she seems to be happy and doing OK."

 

[Nemo2]

^ Perhaps Nemo could, but he's too old now to embark on this endeavor.

Old? I'm just 'overly ripe'.

 

[Lsbcal]

I put that I am above average because most investors aren't as good at it as our forum members are. They don't have a clue about even "buy and hold", which is my investment style and one that works nicely for me.

But I am not one of those investment guru types, and I never invest in a solitary stock; I just invest in a handful of broad mutual funds like Total Stock Market. Nobody will ever say, "Oh that W2R, she made a KILLING in the stock market!" They'll just say "Oh, W2R? she seems to be happy and doing OK."

I was tempted to split the categories into male and females. My guess is that males have more testosterone poisoning and so on average would rate themselves higher. But now I am shocked that W2R is right up there too. Completely blows my thesis.

Actually I think your reasoning is sound W2R.

But I want to beat the market, yes a bit of that testosterone has seeped into my investing style.

 

[GravitySucks]

60/40 indexer that errs on the conservative side.
Above average compared to my peers, probably low average compared to this group.

 

[Which Roger]

I selected "above average". I think that's where most bogleheads fit. I'm not sure who would be considered "much better" than average, and there are plenty of people who are getting ripped off by salespeople posing as advisors who would fall into the lower categories. Come to think of it, those salespeople probably also belong down there.


If the question was instead "how much do you know about investing?", I would have responded "much, much, more than the average person". And I think that would be the appropriate response for most on this forum.

 

[RunningBum]

Bad attitude. Don't you want to be a superstar? Where is your competitive spirit RunningBum? Do you let all those wimpy runners pass you on the trails?

Just kidding, of course. There is still time to vote.

Taking this seriously, which I know you didn't mean, when I tried to be a superstar stock picker, it worked, until it didn't. The dotcom bubble favored aggressiveness, which I had. The bust penalized it. I tried for awhile longer and realized I was mostly guessing, letting my weak research be confirmation bias.

 

[Moemg]

I am an average investor but that is all you need to be these last few years to make money.

 

[Lsbcal]

Taking this seriously, which I know you didn't mean, when I tried to be a superstar stock picker, it worked, until it didn't. The dotcom bubble favored aggressiveness, which I had. The bust penalized it. I tried for awhile longer and realized I was mostly guessing, letting my weak research be confirmation bias.

I had a bit of experience myself with this sort of thing. In 2000 I did some "mechanical investing" based on some Motley Fool postings. Luckily I about broke even. I called it a day and realized that kind of investing was just somewhat brainless. Wild ass momentum investing without a clue as to why it should continue. I hate to loose money too much and must have a real plan not just ad hoc thoughts or possibly short term runs.

 

[calmloki]

Not much of an investor. More a sticky bottom feeder. When we first got together I told the gal money was attracted to me. It really isn't, but if it touches me it tends to stick. Too lazy to research deeply so the ugly cheap stuff is attractive, then just need to add work to bring up the value (thinking rentals). Also have faith in people to be what they are, which is mostly good and self interested. Do ongoing business with a few people who merit trust, do no more business with those that prove untrustworthy.

 

[USGrant1962]

I agree that most members here and bogleheads are above average. For example, most probably know what their AA is, which all alone makes them above average investors.

 

[ls99]

Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead. Just kidding
For the last eight years most of my $ is in Vanguard 3 different plans.
Recentley dumped TIAA (raised overhead) and moved it to Wellesley.
Sleep good at night.
Got to start blowing some, else my nieces will have way too much $ to waste.

 

[RxMan]

I picked above average for the poll which I’d like to think is accurate but who knows really. I’d also say that I am a boring buy and hold dividend growth investor so nothing flashy or interesting.

While most of my money is in retirement accounts that are invested in mostly index mutual funds I did start a taxable brokerage account say 12 or do years ago to dabble in individual stock investments.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve sold over those years. I mostly buy large cap dividend growth stocks and sit back and reinvest the dividends automatically into additional shares. I’ve done quite well with those stocks both with collecting lots of dividends and watching them grow in share price.

I know a guy at work who always likes to talk stocks with me. From our conversations I’ve gathered that he is a much more active and aggressive investor. He takes large stock positions and trades more frequently. I think he does well so good for him.

I haven’t braved the options market yet. That would be interesting but I don’t know enough to make money trading options.

I think I’m like most people. I find something that works and I stick to that.

 

[Dash man]

I’m good enough for us. We made some good money on individual stocks and most pay growing dividends. We tend to buy and hold, but lately if we do sell the money goes into an ETF that is low cost. It’s nice to earn a good piece of change without doing anything.

 

[OldShooter]

I think you buy-and-hold index/passive investors are not evaluating your results correctly. Yes, you are getting the market average less a few basis points but you are also over time beating around 90% of professional stock pickers. That makes your results seriously above the investor average.

FWIW, here is a 20 year JP Morgan study with the average retail investor on the right/circled:

 

[RxMan]

I seem to remember reading an article about the average investor underperforming due to transaction costs and failed attempts at timing the markets. I wonder if the recent movement towards $0 commissions will at least minimize some of the reason for that underperformance?

 

[6miths]

Was a good earner and saver. An average investor but turns out that over the last decade that has been just what was needed. So yes lucky on sequence of returns.

 

[RobbieB]

I suck, therefor I hired it out.

 

[littleb]

I voted above average because compared to the past 30 years my education and skills have improved like fine wine. I made many mistakes through the years but came out good on the other side. Like many here most of our money is in index funds, low expense mutual funds and dividend paying stocks that are around for the long term.

 

[Which Roger]

I suck, therefor I hired it out.

But if you hired it out to someone who isn't choking you with fees and taxes, you're still well above average.

 

[Lsbcal]

I suck, therefor I hired it out.

That is an investment decision not unlike putting everything into a balanced fund. So if you vote you could vote along the lines of how that has done.

 

[Koogie]

I voted below average because we invest very conservatively (40/60) and are happy with lower returns.

If this is Lake Woebegone, I must be in the special ed class...

 

[Lsbcal]

I voted below average because we invest very conservatively (40/60) and are happy with lower returns.

If this is Lake Woebegone, I must be in the special ed class...

I am not sure about this way of thinking. The poll question is about you as an investor not on how conservative your AA is. If you meet your needs and are happy, is that below average?

 

[Nemo2]

If this is Lake Woebegone, I must be in the special ed class...

Hey...we missed you on the short bus this morning!

 

[Dtail]

Average investor I suppose.
BTW - the word "average" is spelled incorrectly on the Average line choice.