Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently put to the Goon Central board:
The article re Wade Pfau makes the case re the dangers of Buy-and-Hold in an extremely powerful way.The case is so powerful that people cannot bear to hear it. Gary North is no Buy-and-Holder. But even Gary North could not bear to hear this message. This is a hard one to take.
When I send those e-mails, I hurt people’s feelings and I cause people to hate me. It takes courage to do that. That’s why no one else has done it. I am not smarter than John Bogle. I have more courage than John Bogle. A better way of saying it is that I have been forced to DEVELOP more courage than John Bogle. I didn’t act with courage prior to May 13, 2002. I was like everybody else, trying hard not to offend even though my intellect told me that staying at the same stock allocation when valuations went to insanely dangerous levels was irresponsible and foolish. I was forced to put forward the post when the Greaney Goons attacked Wanderer and I was left with no other way of defending the integrity of “my” Retire Early board. Then the Goons attacked me and all other honestzzz posters and I was forced to develop even more courage. I wish I could just get those darn e-mails out without feeling such emotional anguish over it. It doesn’t work that way. I have been doing this for 10 years. It has always been hard. Hard, hard, hard. I always get the job done sooner or later, however. I MUST do the job. I will not pretend that it doesn’t hurt to have people ignore me and hate me and mock me and all the rest. It hurts. But I will not let that stop me. I will do right by my community and work up the courage needed to get this difficult job done to the best of my ability. That’s myzzz sincere take re this important matter, in any event. I wish you all the best possible luck in all your future endeavors. Please take good care. Rob |
what says
what job have you got done? seems you are worse off than 10-15 years ago.
Rob says
We’re all worse off when you consider the economic crisis, What.
The big thing we have working for us is that we now have 30 years of academic research showing that Get Rich Quick never works in the long term. Once we get the internet opened up to honest posting, it’s over for Buy-and-Hold.
I’m working on it, I’m working on it!
Take care, Goon friend.
Rob
what says
Really? I am better off than 10 years ago. Most people probably aren’t, but I am.
Rob says
Do you live in the United States, What?
In the event that stocks continue to perform in the future at least somewhat as they have always performed in the past, the United States will within the course of the next few years be entering the Second Great Depression. That’s not “better off.”
We are all a lot better off in one important sense. We all have the potential to benefit from the 30 years of academic research that permits us to reduce the risk of stock investing by 70 percent.
We are potentially better off. We are not today in a practical sense better off. The purpose of my work here is to transform that potential into a reality.
I wish you all good things, old friend.
Rob
critter says
If it is hard more than 4 hours, see a doctor.
Rob says
There was a day when the Buy-and-Holders had a sincere love for the idea of using the academic research and the historical data to guide their investing decisions. That’s one of those breakthrough insights for which I feel that I can offer them genuine heartfelt praise.
I wish you well, old buddy.
Rob
what says
What does living in the US have to do with it? Markets are global.
Rob says
THe decision of the Wall Street Con Men to continue to promote Buy-and-Hold strategies for 30 years after the academic research showed that there is precisely zero chance that they could ever work for even a single long-term investor has caused an economic crisis in the United States, What. Our political system has thus far failed to address the problem. As a result, we are seeing a loss of confidence in the ability of our political system to address the problems of the middle-class both on the left (in the form of the Occupy Wall Street movement) and on the right (in the form of the Tea Party movement).
I love my country, I would like to see every discussion board and blog on the internet opened to honest posting on safe withdrawal rates and many other critically important investment-related topics. I would like to see the economic crisis brought to a full and complete stop and I would like to see us enter the greatest period of economic growth in our history.
I wish you all good things, Goon friend.
Rob