Foolish Rules
by GRunkle

Recently I watched the odometer on the Foolmobile flip 200,000 miles. Oh my! That's not what you're supposed to do. I've been told time and again that I shouldn't keep a car that many miles, it isn't wise. Of course, the people who tell me that are generally car sales people, and they seem to recommend getting a new car at whatever miles are currently on my odometer. The same seems to be true for investing.

We've all seen the ads on CNBC, where the Wise tell us we don't know enough to invest for ourselves. I like the ad where choosing a mutual fund yourself is compared to giving yourself a haircut, performing your own dental work, or engaging in do-it-yourself brain surgery. I guess we the Foolish can't be trusted to look up our own funds in Morningstar.

Of course, since I'm kind of Foolish, I did go to Morningstar and looked up this illustrious company's performance. Guess what? Only about a third of their stock funds (domestic, international, and sector) beat the S&P 500 last year. Out of 75 funds, only two boasted a 5-Star rating, and just three of them rated 4 Stars. If the only brain surgeon I could find had this kind of record, I think I'd get out the hacksaw and do it myself.

Some of the other "rules" I've heard are: only buy stocks through a full service broker (he or she can give you Wise advice); don't put money in the stock market unless you have a 6-figure income (I guess the market is some sort of country club, and the rest of us rabble should be happy with 5 or 6% returns on our money); and absolutely, positively subscribe to any newsletter whose advertising you happen to be reading at the moment.

In summary, a lot of the "rules" we hear are made up by those who benefit from them. Well I only have one rule---it's my money, and I only put it in investments I understand. Since I made up that rule, it benefits me. I don't care how "professional" the Wise may claim to be, I take the time to research my investments myself and make my own decisions. This is rather Foolish, I admit, but it's the way I want it to be. I work hard for the money I have, and my goal is to get the highest return on it, not to give a Wise person the highest commission.

As for the Foolmobile, here's to another 200,000.