Investor, What Would You Tell Your Younger Self?

If you could turn back time and start your investing “career” over again, what do you wish you had known then that you know now? When The Wall Street Journal asked several members of its “Experts” panel something similar — What retirement money tip do you wish you’d given yourself when you were 30? — William Reichenstein, investment professor at Baylor, said save early and save often. Furthermore, I wish someone would have told me to maintain a heavy stock allocation — probably at least 90% until my early 40s — with perhaps 30% of the stock portion in international stocks. William Bernstein, author of several investing books, including The Four Pillars of Investing, also talked about asset allocation, emphasizing the importance of choosing an appropriate allocation for one’s age. The riskiness of stocks is dependent on where in an investor’s life cycle they are; they’re the least risky early on, since large price falls are actually beneficial to those with ongoing savings, and the most risky in retirement, when the losses can’t be made up with further saving. I wish I had realized this when I was young.

Maddy Dychtwald, co-founder of Age Wave, a think tank focused on issues related to our aging population, said she’d tell her younger self to prepare for a long life.

And one of the best strategies to living a long life successfully can be summed up in one word: ‘Compounding.’ In order to live a long life, it’s going to take money. A lot of money. The secret weapon to getting there is to take advantage of compounding. Former Congressman Martin Frost, said to start investing sooner than later in order to learn about the market. When my children were small, I purchased stock for their college accounts in companies like Walt Disney, Coca-Cola, and McDonald’s, that they could relate to. Our 5-year-old grandson recently visited Disney World and wanted to know what part of the park he owned. His parents explained that his investment probably accounted for a few blades of grass, but at least he was curious to know.

I simply wish I had started investing earlier. From a young age, I had a strong work ethic, so I was earning good money by middle school. But it never occurred to me to invest any of that money. In fact, I didn’t begin investing in earnest until I was in my 30s.

What about you? When you were younger, what do you wish you had known or done differently about investing? Drawing on the lessons of your own life, what investment-related advice would you give to a young person today? *Image used with permission. *