TRUTH OR DARE
Our journey is coming to an end.
After reading these few pages, you might find yourself in one of the following situations:
– You’ve applied the reasoning I shared with you and have decided either to pass on or to seize the investment opportunity you were considering.
– You had already decided to invest and couldn’t wait to read even the shortest book to do so.
– You’ve followed my recommendations step by step but you are still in a state of indecision.
I’d be pleased if you find yourself in scenario one, as it means that your decision, and those in the future, will be based on a time-tested framework that you can improve as you progress.
If you are more in one of the latter situations, let me offer you some final thoughts:
My primary goal with this book is to level the playing field for you, and I am confident that my approach will help you avoid the common mistakes I’ve seen numerous investors make time and again.
If you rush into making decisions and only decide to invest after hearing a compelling story (which is what the vast majority of new investors do), you’re doing so at your own risk. And let me warn you: it usually doesn’t end well. You may blame the person who gave you the tips afterward, and I’m willing to bet that a banker might not be far behind. But remember one thing: a banker’s cupidity is matched only by your own greed.
My secondary goal is to help you find the place you deserve in the economic fabric. However, to claim it, you must take the first steps.
As with many things in life, the first steps are always the hardest, and you’ll likely make mistakes.
With time, you’ll learn how to avoid getting yourself into situations you can’t handle, as long as you are open to experimenting.
You can start by investing small amounts in options that resonate with you. If you need more time to make a decision, allow your ideas to incubate. Give yourself the chance to test this framework with all the investment opportunities that come your way. It’s acceptable to make decisions when you have 80% of the information you desire. After 20 years of investing, I sometimes proceed with even less information. The remaining insights, and many more, will emerge as you engage with the investment world.
In my experience, you learn more about investing by doing than by reading. That’s why I intentionally kept this book short. In truth, I could have written thousands of pages on each of the topics I’ve covered. And you could spend hours attempting to answer the questions I’ve posed for you, creating complex Excel spreadsheets to estimate cash flows, striving to become a macroeconomics expert, listening to all the news on the topic, etc. But are you doing this to refine your investing skills, or are you trying to reassure yourself?
Investing involves risks, but the world advances because we dare to take them. Choosing not to dare is also a risky decision. Remember my first statement?
You are already investing, whether consciously or not…why let someone else reap the benefit of your investment for you?