Quote: (01-24-2014 05:46 PM)cardguy Wrote:
I have being feeling this way for awhile. But I wanted to put together this post after reading the following book which clearly sets out the statistics showing that for most people they will actually get a better return on their money by sticking it in a bank - versus handing it over to an investment guru (ie a recent university graduate in a badly fitted suit) to invest in the stock market:
http://monkeywithapin.com/
That's probably true, for most people. But most people are idiots. They buy when the market is at its peak and sell when it is at its low. And you are EXACTLY right about not paying fees to people who probably don't know any more than you do. But there is an alternative: Put your long term investment portfolio - money you won't need for 20-40 years - in a low cost equity index fund. That has returned about 9-10% annually over the past 100 yrs, and it has been remarkably consistent: it has returned 9-10% in just about every individual decade since the 1920's. The 2000's might be the one exception; I need to check. 9 or 10% is a LOT higher than you will ever get from a bank, unless of course inflation is over 10%.