3 Investing Lessons to Know

How One Pennsylvania Man Turned $70k into $264m ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌       [The Motley Fool] SPECIAL ALERT [The Motley Fool] Listen, I’m going to make this short and sweet. For a limited time only, we are offering a whopping 75% off1 our acclaimed investing service Stock Advisor. Since 2003, this service has helped individual investors take their finances into their own hands and uncover some of the greatest investing opportunities in history. The average stock recommendation has historically seen an incredible 663.5% average return, healthily beating the S&P 500 and some of the most famous fund managers and talking heads in the industry since April 2002. No risky day trading, no shortcuts, no bull, just a simple, long-term buy-and-hold approach employed by some of the world’s greatest investors. In fact, we’ve even taken some of the risk out of it for you: if you are not satisfied with our service, you can cancel any time within 30 days and get a full refund of your membership fee. No questions asked. [Learn why over half a million investors trust Stock Advisor](~/AAQRxQA~/RgRoBVPLP4QkAWh0dHBzOi8vYXBpLmZvb2wuY29tL2luZm90cm9uL3NwbGl0dGVyL3JvdXRlL3NmLXNhLTc1LWZzLXNvP2xpZD1zbHludmw3bnY4czcmYXBpa2V5PTVjOGU1MmRkLTFiZWEtNDU1ZS04N2Y1LWQ1NTA2ZTU5MGYyMSZzb3VyY2U9aXNhc28zZW1sMDAwODM4OSZ1PTIwMzg3OTUwMjImbWFpbGluZ19pZD02NzY1NTVlZi0yYmYwLTRjYjEtOTM3MS0xYjc5MGQ2Njg3YjImbWFpbGluZ19uYW1lPVZhcmlhbnQgMSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249c2YtZ3JlYXRlc3RpbnZlc3RvciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9c29XA3NwY0IKZiHLziJmWhsW3lIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODdAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAH5) [Learn why over half a million investors trust Stock Advisor](~/AAQRxQA~/RgRoBVPLP4QkAWh0dHBzOi8vYXBpLmZvb2wuY29tL2luZm90cm9uL3NwbGl0dGVyL3JvdXRlL3NmLXNhLTc1LWZzLXNvP2xpZD05MWNwOHUzaTFtcGEmYXBpa2V5PTVjOGU1MmRkLTFiZWEtNDU1ZS04N2Y1LWQ1NTA2ZTU5MGYyMSZzb3VyY2U9aXNhc28zZW1sMDAwODM4OSZ1PTIwMzg3OTUwMjImbWFpbGluZ19pZD02NzY1NTVlZi0yYmYwLTRjYjEtOTM3MS0xYjc5MGQ2Njg3YjImbWFpbGluZ19uYW1lPVZhcmlhbnQgMSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249c2YtZ3JlYXRlc3RpbnZlc3RvciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9c29XA3NwY0IKZiHLziJmWhsW3lIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODdAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAH5) Now if you’re still not fully convinced…I want to tell you a quick story, that hammers home just why picking the right stocks to buy and hold could be the most game-changing approach for your portfolio: In a nondescript two-person office above a bookstore in Charlottesville Virginia sits Ted Wechsler. He might be the greatest investor of all time. His IRA is the stuff of legends. “In an ideal world, no one would even know about this account,” Wechsler admits coyly. Now, even though he’s not a household name in the likes of a Peter Lynch, or a Charlie Munger, Wechsler managed to turn a $70k IRA into a $264m behemoth, beating Berkshire stock 120-1 from 1989 to 2012 (and over 90-1 from 1989 to 2018.) (Keep in mind…that in that same time, Berkshire shares beat the S&P 500 over 6 to 1!) But look how these returns stack up to Wechsler’s IRA… In fact, his returns were so legendary that after a charity lunch Wechsler won, he was offered a job managing billions in Berkshire funds! But how did Wechsler do it? Unlike other investors, who took advantage of low price share offerings or risky day trades, Wechsler only invested in publicly traded companies. What’s more, the insane growth seen from the account cements just how important it is to start investing and saving early and often, and taking advantage of an employer match if offered. And finally, Wechsler promoted the importance of keeping emotions in check. In 1990, just one year after he started investing and tracking his returns in earnest, his IRA saw a dramatic 52% decline. Despite this downturn, Wechsler kept his nose up and continued to contribute money and invest. So what are three things that investors can learn from Wechsler? - It’s important to start investing and saving as early, taking advantage of an employee match if offered. But even if you’ve already been working for five years or twenty-five years and not taking advantage of this, please don’t stop reading. - Don’t be discouraged when stocks inevitably go down. As we saw with Wechsler, his account has beaten the market by 300,000% even with a 50% drop in 1990. - Finally, you need to know what stocks to invest in. Now that is a little trickier. Wechsler says he spends the bulk of his time scouring financial statements and studying sectors that could be undervalued, constantly looking for opportunities. Wechsler knows that for many, this just simply isn’t feasible. “For people who can’t do that, index funds are the answer.” Well, that’s all well and good. For example, if you had taken the $70k Wechsler had in 1989 and put it in a Vanguard fund, that would be worth well over $1.6 million as of June 2023. Not bad. But that’s a far cry from the over $260 million Wechsler's account is worth. I’m no accountant, but I think that makes it super clear that picking the right stocks and companies might be the most important thing to do. Now, these aren’t revolutionary concepts by any means; Wechsler is certainly not the only one to employ these concepts in his portfolio. In fact, we here at The Motley Fool have done exactly this for over 30 years! We’ve made it our business to pick what we think are the best stocks for individual investors to own. And it’s led to average returns over 500% since we started Stock Advisor in 2002. So, with all you’ve read about Wechsler…and Stock Advisor’s unmatched track record…and our no brainer refund policy… [Why not give us a shot?](~/AAQRxQA~/RgRoBVPLP4QkAWh0dHBzOi8vYXBpLmZvb2wuY29tL2luZm90cm9uL3NwbGl0dGVyL3JvdXRlL3NmLXNhLTc1LWZzLXNvP2xpZD1hcWpmaGVhZXpqMTMmYXBpa2V5PTVjOGU1MmRkLTFiZWEtNDU1ZS04N2Y1LWQ1NTA2ZTU5MGYyMSZzb3VyY2U9aXNhc28zZW1sMDAwODM4OSZ1PTIwMzg3OTUwMjImbWFpbGluZ19pZD02NzY1NTVlZi0yYmYwLTRjYjEtOTM3MS0xYjc5MGQ2Njg3YjImbWFpbGluZ19uYW1lPVZhcmlhbnQgMSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249c2YtZ3JlYXRlc3RpbnZlc3RvciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9zb3VyY2U9c29XA3NwY0IKZiHLziJmWhsW3lIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODdAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAH5)   Returns as of April 16, 2024. How did you like this email? 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