Investment Cliches

[mickeyd]

There are probably hundreds of investment cliches floating around out there. I often hear one and have to stop and think "What the heck does that really mean? As an investor I should be familiar with that catchy phrase."

My all time favorite is one that is attributed to Warren Buffet- "When the tide goes out, you see who's swimming naked." I am not 100% sure what it means, but it is damn descriptive.

What is your favorite investment cliché? Why?

 

[braumeister]

This time is different.

 

[old woman]

I rising tide raises all boats. For example housing markets and stock markets make idiots look smart. When the tide goes out you can see who was swimming naked because they only can make money in up markets.

 

[ls99]

Make big money, invest in tesla.

 

[OldShooter]

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Einstein

“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong.” H. L. Mencken

“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” Buffet

(on investing for retirement) “Make no mistake about it: The object of this particular game is not to get rich – It’s to not get poor.” William Bernstein

(applicable to people who still advocate stock-picking funds) “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair

 

[38Chevy454]

One heard on here many times:
Never invest in what you do not understand

A few funny ones related to financial investing:
We lose money on every deal but we make it up in volume

Experience is that thing you get just after you could have used it

Common sense isn't

A fool never learns from his mistakes. A wise man does, but a smart man learns from other people's mistakes

Wisdom does not always come with age. Sometimes age comes all by itself

 

[CardsFan]

A former co-worker was fond of this one:

Be a bear, or be a bull, but don't be a pig

 

[COcheesehead]

Don’t let a perfect plan get in the way of a good one.

 

[ponyboy]

Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.

Dont step over dollars to pick up dimes.

People dont have money problems, they have spending problems.

 

[RobbieB]

Don't let the tax tail wag the investment dog.

 

[ckelly78z]

A penny saved, is a penny earned !

 

[VanWinkle]

It's a recession when you are out of work, it's a depression when I'm out of work!

 

[travelover]

Buy high, sell in a panic.

 

[Winemaker]

Life is like a $hit sandwich, the more bread you have the less $hit you have to eat.
Skip Drake, my first boss, circa June 1974

 

[Clone]

Circa 1999: Anybody can make 15% in the market!

 

[samclem]

"In the short run, the market is a voting machine but in the long run it is a weighing machine." -- Benjamin Graham



"When you've learned enough to be able to pick a competent financial advisor, you've learned enough to manage your own investments without one."
-- Said by many at E-R.org (and on Bogleheads)

 

[Bruce]

I rising tide raises all boats. For example housing markets and stock markets make idiots look smart. When the tide goes out you can see who was swimming naked because they only can make money in up markets.

A rising tide lifts all boats except those with holes in their hull.

 

[VanWinkle]

Life is like a $hit sandwich, the more bread you have the less $hit you have to eat.
Skip Drake, my first boss, circa June 1974

+1

Slip was a smart guy!!

 

[Scrapr]

College marketing class: Always remember the Golden rule. He who has the gold makes the rules

Prof thought he was pretty smart for that one

 

[target2019]

We live, we die. And in between, we sh#t. - Target2019
I have a Mom, too. - some FA

 

[cooch96]

Retirement expenses are 80% your salary. (Or some derivative of that)

Your stock allocation percentage should = 100 - your age.

 

[target2019]

I'm going to help you develop a better retirement plan. - some FA
He wants 25-50% of our performance. - Me

 

[DrRoy]

Buy low, sell high.
2 absolutes: death and taxes.

 

[steelyman]

The money that money makes makes money.

I think attributed to Benjamin Franklin, referring to compounding.

 

[marko]

“Far more money has been lost by investors preparing for corrections, or trying to anticipate corrections, than has been lost in corrections themselves.” – Peter Lynch

"Buy. Hold. Repeat." -- marko