Best Long Term Stock Ideas

[gfp927z]

Derf, >> S&P index fund. It is the only fund guaranteed to underperform the index <<

It will only underperform by the fund's expense ratio, which is negligible (0.02%, 0.03%, or for the SPY 0.09%)

The problem with stock picking is that hardly anybody can beat the S+P 500's return over time. Active managers might get lucky for a few years, but then they underperform for the next period of years. Even a whiz like Buffett or Peter Lynch owe most of their overperformance to the early years when they had much less $$ to deploy, and could thus have concentrated positions. Unfortunately as stock pickers, none of us are in their league, or even close.

So might as well face it, Jack Bogle was right ---> use a low cost index fund for the bulk of one's stock allocation. I add in a bunch of individual stocks, but these are just minor add-ons to help keep it fun / interesting. The unfortunate reality seems to be that -- 'the more you trade, the more you lose' / underperform. That's been my experience anyway.




---