Investing
Since I was a little boy I dreamed of being a Wall Street Wizard. I read the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. I hung pictures of Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch on my bedroom wall. But as I grew up I found other interests. By the time I reached high school, I was one of the best pitchers in the state. I went to the University of California on a full athletic scholarship. During my college years, I still followed investing very closely. Although I didn’t have much money in the bank, I took what I earned from summer jobs and invested it in mini portfolios.
At the end of my junior year I badly injured my shoulder, and that was the end of my baseball career. After that, I decided to attend business school and follow my passion for investing. When I graduated, I found an entry-level position working at a major Wall Street Brokerage house. Now investing was how I earned my living, and I wanted to learn everything I could.
Like many other young guns, I was cocksure and certain that I could not fail. In time, however, I learned that investing is not a game. For years I tried to take advantage of every hot stock tip and sure thing that came down the pike, but more often than not the results were disastrous. I even lost some of my parents’ money investing in a stock I was told was guaranteed to double in just a few days.
After that, I vowed that I would never again take a tip from a trader on the Street. I made up my mind to treat investing as serious business and not as a get rich quick scheme. It took me many years of research, trial and error, but before I got married I finally created a portfolio that suited my needs. It was well diversified and had just the right level of risk for a person my age.
Now my daughters are in grade school and the portfolio I created almost a decade ago is worth twice the amount I originally invested. It goes to show you that investing is something that must be approached with equal parts patience and courage. And if you treat it like a game, you are likely to lose your shirt.
