Making My Move

After many months of being too busy to feel comfortable placing my money in the market, I have finally made the purchases. Having never dealt in the amount of money I was placing into the market, it felt odd to see these large numbers on the screen.

After executing the trades, I looked around my brokerage account a bit and checked out what was going on in the market. I happened to check what were the most traded equities at the moment and found the one I invested in most heavily (SPY) at the top of the list. Now while I certainly was not responsible for the more than thirty-two million transactions that took place, it felt nice to see that some of those numbers were a result of my actions.

At this stage in my life, with this asset allocation (if interested see previous post that discusses my exact allocation), I feel that I can go on with my life without fretting about how my stock is doing. I know that even if we experience something as bad as the great depression, that if I simply don't pull out then I don't lose money. The key to long term investing is to not lock in your losses.

I never knew investing could be this simple. To me it seems like the only way to go in order to keep it from becoming a constant concern. Fretting over the rise or fall of small holdings daily seems like a pain with no significant payoff, which investing gurus such as Bill Schultheis, William Bernstein, and William P. Kemp (its true!) also find to be the case.

To the final guru on the list I express my most sincere thanks. For personally walking me through (and at points holding my hand) the confusing and contradictory world that is the stock market. Through your tutelage I have come to understand a place for myself in the market that I didn't know existed. Prior to this wonderful experience, I didn't see the market as something approachable or understand that it could be tamed through asset allocation. Again thanks so much. I can't help but feel that through this experience we have become closer. I will always cherish our long talks, whether stock related or otherwise. Next time we get together, the coffee is on me.