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Chapter 30: And Upon Retirement

From July 1, 1981 onward I had retired. There is no question
in my mind that the best part of retiring is that you don’t have to waste
part of your life each day commuting. I began to study the stock market
carefully and had time to really enjoy my gardening.

I recall my Dad referring to the stock market as a roller coast-
er. While I had invested some money from the time we completed our
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thought, in my ignorance, that if a stock price went up 25 percent or
more, you’d better get out while the getting is good. While I have not
always conformed to that rule, I had done so many times. I now began
to study the stock market seriously. Some studies, such as those done at
the Wharton School, showed that if a person invested in stocks which
hit their all-time high in a given year, he was much more likely to suc-
ceed than if he bought stocks which hit their all-time low point. When
you analyze it, it is really fairly simple: winners tend to stay winners,
and losers tend to stay losers. A lesson in life!
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the Value Line Investment Survey. I subscribed and began to read each
issue carefully. As I thought I saw opportunities I began to invest the
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its sinking spells, but I sold nothing; there is no point to selling your
hard-earned savings for peanuts. Gradually thereafter the stock market
rose. There were dips in years like 1987 and 1991, but we simply rode
them out without selling out. We didn’t do any short-term speculation
because that is a trap for the unwary. We sold our Chevron stock in
1982 because the prospects were not bright and we invested in other
industries. Over the years, we have been most successful in investing
in banks and insurance companies and discount stores like Costco and
Lowe’s. In 2004 and 2005, we invested heavily in oil and natural gas
company stocks. I gradually learned that very few speculative invest-
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