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162 Don’t Make Me Say I Told You So

of trends, what constitutes prudent investment
advice has not changed over the past 13 and a

half years. What you should have done in 1994 is
the same thing you should be doing today in 2008.

“It’s just that the market has changed. Something
gets hot, everybody gets overly enthusiastic about

it. This year it’s commodities. A couple of years ago,

it was real estate. We get this continuous new
scenario thrown up by the financial markets and
we get all hot and bothered about it, but what

you should be doing stays the same. You should be

saving regularly, putting money into that 401(k). The
answers don’t change, just the scenarios that we’re
dealing with.”

Imagine yourself as a columnist for The Wall Street Journal
or other financial publication. Take out a piece of paper and a

pen, sit down, and start making a list of personal finance topics

you would write about. After 25 or 30 stories, you start to run
out of ideas. How many times can you tell people to spend less
than they make, put away money each month for retirement,

invest wisely, try to use deductions to cut taxes, pay off credit

card debt, and so on?

Chapter 4: The Most Common Investor Mistakes