Which is absolutely, positively the way to go!
Indeed, I’d go a step further and say that over the long haul? The fundamentals of a free market are ALWAYS strong.
The overwhelming majority of my portfolio is pretty simple ETFs (mostly board index, but I do dabble in sectors on occasion), REITs, etc. Sure - a bit of hedging. I’m neither a doomer or a gold bug, but I’ll trade a bit of upside gain for downside risk aversion. Gold makes sense - in small proportions - for most folks.
However, I do like to allocate a small bit of my investing to individual stock picking. Even there, though?
I follow pretty bog standard cliches made famous by people like Peter Lynch, Warren Buffett, etc. I follow the 5 year rule - never invest a dollar I need/want to spend in the next 5 years. I like to understand and know what I’m buying. And I pore over 10-Q/10-Ks.
I 100% agree on short-term/day traders - I imagine every investor has dabbled in his life at some point. Not for me. Buy and hold.
sounds like you got a plan there. smiles smiles
once every couple years i try a quickie short term swing investment.... or rather, gamble.
i usually lose at these.
it is very much like ... I buy a lotto ticket when the prize gets up over a billion dineros.
i obviously always lose, of course.
or else I’d be typing this from my yacht in Tahiti