I'm a 49 year old personal investor who first got into the market just in time to get clobbered in the 1987 crash. That taught me 3 lessons:
1) When everyone, including your mail carrier, is boasting about their stock market returns, start looking for the exits;
2) Don't assume that trend lines will continue indefinitely in the same direction;
3) Keep enough cash aside to go long when people start using the word "Armageddon."
I have a base of dividend stocks, REITs, CEFs and ETFs, and use their proceeds to go long on value/growth stocks (most recently, SRHGY--position closed 10/22/12).
SNAPSHOT
Description: Full time investor.
Trading frequency: Weekly
1) When everyone, including your mail carrier, is boasting about their stock market returns, start looking for the exits;
2) Don't assume that trend lines will continue indefinitely in the same direction;
3) Keep enough cash aside to go long when people start using the word "Armageddon."
I have a base of dividend stocks, REITs, CEFs and ETFs, and use their proceeds to go long on value/growth stocks (most recently, SRHGY--position closed 10/22/12).