Ron Chernow Quotes

Mutual funds give people the sense that they're investing with the big boys and that they're really not at a disadvantage entering the stock market.

Mutual funds have historically offered safety and diversification. And they spare you the responsibility of picking individual stocks.

If the investor doesn't have enough time and skill to investigate individual stocks or enough money to diversify a portfolio, the right thing to do is to invest in exchange-traded funds that give you exposure to asset classes. It does make sense for the individual investor to think in terms of holding individual asset classes.

You could lose hundreds or thousands one day on paper and gain it all back the next, and it has literally no effect on your immediate future, provided the money you have in the market is money you're investing for the long haul (meaning at least three to five years).

Always keep your portfolio and your risk at your own individual comfortable sleeping point.

The thing to do with mutual funds is to buy a couple of decent ones, set up an investment plan and then never, ever think about them again, except maybe once a quarter or so when you take a peek at your statements to make sure that you have not accidentally been buying the Fidelity Peace-in-the-Middle-East fund.

It is important for investors to understand what they do and don't know. Learn to recognize that you cannot possibly know what is going to happen in the future, and any investment plan that is dependent on accurately forecasting where markets will be next year is doomed to failure.

I've learned that all investments have risk.

Investing should be dull. It shouldn't be exciting.

I haven't changed any of my investments since I've been in the Senate and haven't purchased any stocks since I've been in the Senate.

Many financial advisors recommend that you diversify for your own protection. What they fail to tell you is that it is also for their protection. Since most financial advisors cannot tell you exactly which stock or mutual fund is a great investment, they tell you to buy a bunch of them.

Diversification has been, and balance, like Wellington, has been so drummed into me, it's part of my personality.

I think it is crucial to diversify one's portfolio.

I don't think you should put all your money in one place. It must be invested in different investments.

As in most subjects relating to money management, there's a wide diversity of opinion on portfolio concentration versus diversification.

Well, the most important thing in investing is to know what you're investing in, and if you're confident in the outcome, it's important to stay true to your position.

Mutual funds are an overrated investment heavily promoted by Wall Street.

If your investing approach requires that you become Nostradamus to succeed, then you are destined to fail.

Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing.

We don't manage money for anyone else. We bear responsibility only for our own risks.

There's a tendency to look at investments in isolation. Investors focus on the risk of individual securities.

I'm not a money manager, but I can tell you what the conventional wisdom is. The younger you are, the more risk you can take on.

What I'm trying to say is that for the average investor, what I would encourage them to do is to understand that there's inflation and growth. It can go higher and lower and to have four different portfolios essentially that make up your entire portfolio that gets you balanced.

I think you'll do as well as most professionals. Most professionals don't beat the market. Let's not over-rate my industry. But if you have time, you can be in good mutual funds that have good records.

My advice to the average investor in 1988 is to be patient and think long-term. It will take 18 months for confidence to get better and, in the meantime, this is absolutely no place for short-term money.