Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices.

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sadie wess
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Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices.

Post by sadie wess »


I am quoting one cool dude. Yep, I say "dude" and yep, he is young at heart and very wise.

Please note that the following posting is several years old and is a Nisiprius response to someone trying to make some AA choices and full of fear. It remains posted on the bulletin board above my desk.

Posted: Monday, June 27, 2011 6:30 AM.

Topic: "Monday around the corner...cold feet."

My (Nisiprius) answer to all such questions is: do it slowly and gradually. If you never make a start, you just remain confronted with the same problem and the same anxiety forever.

The problem is: it's an important decision, and it's human to keep changing your mind.

The answer is: decide what your best thinking is now, and do a little of it. Plan to get to your target allocation, not immediately, but over a period of several years.

*It discharges the anxiety you feel about doing nothing.

*It minimizes the anxiety you feel from making a big commitment, by turning it into a small commitment.

*It minimizes the impact of any decisions you are making due to recency, or faddishness, or panic.

*It forces you to slow down and not do things in a hurry.

It's a long-term decision. You should never feel that there is a rush to do long-term investing.

If you are making the right decision, six months from now it will still look like the right decision. Well, if you make the SAME decision with 10% of your money every six months, in five years you'll be 100% invested according to plan. But it gives you plenty of time to think about it, to read the new headlines.


We talk about dollar cost averaging. It's also important to average out our impulses, our emotions, our mood swings.

I, Sadie, take responsibility for typos and date entry/keyboard errors. My point is to thank Nisiprius and share his wise words with all.

Sadie
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pjstack
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by pjstack »

Nice post. I certainly agree.
pjstack
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dodecahedron
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by dodecahedron »

+1 (as they say). And, more generally, thanks to nisiprius for saying so many thoughtful and helpful things in such a sensible and persuasive yet modest and uneffacing manner. :)
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LadyGeek
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by LadyGeek »

Here's the original: Subject: Monday around the corner... cold feet Mon Jun 27, 2011
nisiprius wrote:My answer to all such questions is: do it slowly and gradually. If you never make a start, you just remain confronted with the same problem and the same anxiety forever.

The problem is: it's an important decision, and it's human to keep changing your mind.

The answer is: decide what your best thinking is now, and do a little of it. Plan to get to your target allocation, not immediately, but over a period of several years.

* It discharges the anxiety you feel about doing nothing.

* It minimizes the anxiety you feel from making a big commitment, by turning it into a small commitment.

* It minimizes the impact of any decisions you are making due to recency, or faddishness, or panic.

* It forces you to slow down and not do things in a hurry.

It's a long-term decision. You should never feel that there is a rush to do long-term investing.

If you are making the right decision, six months from now it will still look like the right decision. Well, if you make the same decision with 10% of your money every six months, in five years you'll be 100% invested according to plan. But it gives you plenty of time to think about it, to read new headlines.

We talk about dollar cost averaging. It's also important to average out our impulses, our emotions, our mood swings.
Wiki To some, the glass is half full. To others, the glass is half empty. To an engineer, it's twice the size it needs to be.
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dodecahedron
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by dodecahedron »

Thanks LadyGeek! Suitable for framing, in my opinion!
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Blue
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by Blue »

Considerable wisdom in this. I always love reading posts by Nisi
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stratton
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Re: Ode to Nisiprius, investing, AA, and, other life choices

Post by stratton »

bump!
...and then Buffy staked Edward. The end.
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