“Price is what you pay, value is what you get” If you like my approach to investing, consider buying my stock investing book – here is my advice: 1. Save 10% of whatever you earn, no matter how insignificant it may be. When I was a young engineer, I would save 10% of my income, no matter if it was $10 or $1,000. PAYING YOURSELF is the best advice you can give anyone. I recommend the book ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’, it’s a bit repetitive but entertaining and gets the message across. 2. Invest in your competitive advantage. If you are an oil veteran, you should invest in E&P companies and not biotech startups. If you want to diversify, pay someone to give you advice on other sectors or buy ETFs with the right exposure. As for me, I graduated very young and worked in transportation and consumer as an engineer. After the MBA I worked for one of the largest hedge funds covering sectors like natural resources (including oil and gas), TMT, consumer, industrial, and transportation. After that I was a finance executive for leading Fortune 500 companies in the consumer and TMT sectors. So you will never see me investing in finance, education, or healthcare. I get exposure to those sectors through ETFs and professionals I trust. 3. Don’t trade, but invest. Once I left the hedge fund world, I started an asset management firm for family, friends, and high net worth individuals. I was able to manage this fund while having extremely demanding roles investing for the long term. When I buy a company, I only sell if my investment thesis is no longer valid. Therefore, I only spent my Saturdays reviewing my portfolio and exploring new opportunities. 4. Do what you love, not what makes you the most money. You may be leaving money on the table in the short term, but you will be happier in the long term even if you make less money overall. In my spare time, I like to read, row and enjoy life.
Analyst Disclosure: I/We have a profitable long position in GM stock, whether through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. This article was written by me and expresses my own opinions. I receive no compensation for it (except from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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