“I Don’t Think That Investment Advice Should Be Decided by Taking an Opinion Survey.”

Set forth below is the text of a comment that I recently posted to the discussion thread for another blog entry at this site:

“I know why I am banned.”

You just don’t tell people the truth as to why you are banned. It is well documented. It is your behavior.

Specifically the behavior in which I say that the Buy-and-Hold retirement studies are in error and should be quickly corrected and in which I say that in general the Buy-and-Hold strategy has been discredited by 37 years of peer-reviewed research.

Buy-and-Holders don’t like to be told that they are wrong. The experts don’t like it because they see it as a threat to their livelihood and ordinary investors don’t like it because their hopes for retirement are riding on the accuracy of the numbers on their portfolio statement.

I don’t think that investment advice should be decided by taking an opinion survey. I believe that we should go by what the peer-reviewed research says. If Shiller is right that valuations affect long-term returns, then we are hurting ourselves more with every hour that we delay opening every discussion board and blog on the internet to honest posting. This stuff matters. When we get it wrong, we hurt people in very serious ways.

My sincere take.

Bad Behavin’ Rob