Beating the Bear Market: Yielding Wealth By Working

Contrary to popular belief, most millionaires, and those who enjoy a comfy retirement, have to do some measure of work. I mean, before most people like Bill Gates and Sam Walton hit it big, they had to pay their dues and put in some good, hard work. (I think Warren Buffett has it right, though — don’t leave even most of it to the kids.)

This concept is even more true during a bear market. Paul Farrell at MarketWatch offers some great insights into beating the coming (well, I think it’s basically here already) bear market. And in the coming days we’ll be continuing our perusal of his advice. I am rather fond of what I’m using as today’s words of wisdom:

Forget about getting rich in the market. Millionaires get rich doing what they love, says Thomas Stanley. Then they hang onto the money in conservative portfolios. No chasing the latest hot funds. Just keep it simple: Remember, a safe and successful “Lazy Portfolio” is just a simple well-diversified portfolio of maybe a dozen funds, that’s all.

For most of us “regular folks,” yielding wealth is a process. It doesn’t just happen. It has to be worked at.  And that’s what Farrell is talking about. And I like the idea of the lazy portfolio. But don’t get me wrong. You can’t be completely lazy. You need to do the research to find the best solid investments, and it is important that you occasionally rebalance your portfolio as well.

See the other posts in this series on investing:

Do-It-Yourself

Go Contrarian