Robert Nabloid

Rethinking Diversification

I personally hate diversification. It ties me to market average - and if I'm just going to do average, why get involved or worry about anything at all? It's out of my hand if that's the road I take. Why bother reading or writing anything on SA if I'm tied to average? I'd just be waisting my time and it would be better spent working overtime or with family/friends.

I'd rather do research and use knowledge and education to try and pick companies and industries I know (think) will do better than average. You will never achieve success if you strive to be average.

For some people the stock market is nothing more than a retirement fund they hope maintains value or goes up a little and for them the average diversification strategy is just fine and it is probably the best strategy for them!

Show me someone that got wealthy off the stock market by being ultra diversified? As they achieve success, then most starting moving their wealth around and diversifying it to keep it safer. The closer I get to retirement the more diversified my portfolio will become. To me, diversification is a wealth protection strategy, not a wealth building strategy. So it really depends on what you are trying to accomplish. .

Bye-Bye Dividends

@ Boubou: You must take into considering plight of the majority? Majority would be the middle class (which will be hit by increased capital gains, dividend and inheritance taxes)... Majority might also consist of baby boomer's about to retire. So don't act like dividend income isn't important, especially with interest rates on bonds being so low. If interest rates were higher, there would be other options for passive income that make sense. Right now it's either start spending your retirement savings or invest it into dividend producing stocks and try and live off the income the portfolio can derive. We don't know how long we'll live, so we don't want to spend our entire retirement account too soon.

"Your taxes are doing good for others," It's not about taxes doing good or bad, it's about taxes being increased. We know we have to pay taxes, and we're fine with it - many of us don't even want further tax decreases as we feel the level right now is fair. But don't start raising taxes dramatically so you can give MORE social programs to those who do not work or did NOT save for retirement. We don't mind helping out, but why punish those who are barely scraping by, but are currently self-sufficient? Why punish those that took the time to save for retirement so they would be self-sufficient.

Perhaps the MOST American thing is to be self-sufficient so you can afford to help your country, and not be a drain on it - something those receiving social benefits should consider when they see a backlash against such tax proposals. We aren't against helping them, but don't go and give them a raise and make self-sufficient retirees take a pay cut, or we may also have to start receiving some of those social benefits and may become a net drag on the system.

Sometimes the best way to help your country is to help yourself become self-sufficient first, then worry about helping others. You can't help your country if you don't take care of yourself first.

I think what has happened is Obama has done something called class warfare. How do you think Hitler got elected in a Democracy? I believe he blamed a certain group of rich businessmen... How about Obama stop using class warfare to divide us? The rich aren't to blame for all the ills in society, so don't act like they are. With all the "rich hating", it's a wonder our rich bother to stay, instead of move every penny of assets off-shore. Maybe they are more patriotic than you think, and remember, most of them did not start out wealthy... That was the beauty of the American system - a system where upward mobility was allowed and even encouraged. If America doesn't want it's successful corporations, businessmen and self-sufficient retirees, another country will.