Morgan Housel Quotes

“Admit when you are wrong.”

“Assume the worst, hope for the best, accept reality.”

“Be careful when reading about how stupid investors can be and not realize you're reading about yourself.”

“Big risks will always be disregarded; small risks always blown out of proportion.”

“Change your mind as often as the facts change.”

“Dollar-cost average for your entire life and you'll beat almost everyone who doesn't.”

“Don't attempt to keep up with the Joneses without realizing the Joneses aren't any happier than you are.”

“During the last 100 years, there have been more 10% market pullbacks than Christmases. Everyone knows Christmas will come; think of volatility the same way.”

“Emotional intelligence is more important than book intelligence.”

“Every five to seven years, people forget that recessions occur every five to seven years.”

“Holding 60% of your assets in stocks and 40% in bonds isn't perfect for everyone; but I can think of a thousand worse strategies.”

“Ignore people who refuse to change their minds when the facts change.”

“Imagine how much stuff you'd have to make up if you were forced to talk 24/7. Remember this when watching financial news on TV.”

“Independence is the best financial goal.

Control your schedule, don't have to play anyone else's games.”

“Investors were probably better informed 20 years ago when there was 90% less financial news.”

“Judge investors by the quality of their arguments, not the performance of their last trade.”

“Just as you should dress appropriately for your age, you should spend appropriately for your income, and not a penny more.”

“Learn more from your bad investments than your good ones.”

“Most people's biggest expense is interest, which comes from living beyond your means, and buying things they think will impress others, which comes from insecurity. Avoid these two and you'll grow richer than most of your peers.”

“Not taking advantage of an employer match on your 401(k) is no different than declining a raise.”

“Pessimism: everything will be bad.

Complacency: everything will be great.

Reasonable optimism: if you can endure enough bad it'll eventually get pretty great.”

“Predictions, opinions, and forecasts should be discounted by the number of times the person making them is on TV each week.”

“Reaching for yield to increase your income is often like sticking your hands in a fire to warm them up — good in theory, disastrous in practice.”

“Read last year's market predictions and you'll never again take this year's predictions seriously.”

“Read more books and fewer articles.”

“Read more history and fewer forecasts.”

“Respect the role luck has played on some of your role models.”

“Save for your own retirement; assume Social Security and private pensions won't be around (even though they probably will).”

“Screwing up is easy and being a genius is hard so your financial situation can improve a lot by avoiding dumb stuff versus spending all your effort looking for upside.”

“Start saving for college before your kid is born, and start saving for your retirement before you graduate college. You'll feel silly when you start and like a genius when you finish.”