But I was itching for a change. My income nosedived but my relationships flourished! Intrinsically am richer than I have even been! I set out to writing and created a blog and life is like is good.

One thing I did was pay off all of my personal debt before I shut down the business, which has given me a lot of freedom.

As one mentor told what gets measured gets done. Great post.

Rob

Without results how do you measure and gauge the direction you’re going? I believe results should be measured, but should not measure your worth.

Getting attached and creating outcomes for things that you’re not directly in control of, I believe, is setting yourself up for failure. But creating results driven goals for the things you can control, such as blog posts written, prospects called, or dollars saved, is a very effective way of achieving a positive outcome.

Best of luck in 2010

That’s a fact, Carlyle. It’s also a fact that I miss all my friends and all the wonderful learning experiences we enjoyed together in the days before the bans. And it’s my opinion that those who insisted on the bans could enjoy some fine learning experiences as well if they opened themselves up to them.

I obviously have a different take than you re what is going on.

Those reading these words will need to form their own takes re the realities. That’s of course as it should be.

Rob

I feel no shame over the imaginary scenarios you seem to find so compelling. Honest posting may be observed at personal finance discussion boards and blogs all across the internet. What is missing at many of those same boards and blogs is your participation, as many venues have banned you after finding your wall-of-words contributes little to the understanding of personal finance topics.

I also like that idea…but it’s one I need to constantly remind myself of.

My goal for 2010 is to be mindful of enjoying myself – I believe we can all find a way to enjoy our work. One way is to think of how we are serving others. That always seems to help me pull through.

To the extent that the fund managers follow a Buy-and-Hold strategy (not changing the stock allocation even in response to big price swings), they increase the risk associated with these funds and diminish the long-term return obtained by them. These funds have produced good on-paper results. That’s because stocks offer such wonderful returns. Buy-and-Hold always detracts from one’s return and increases one’s risk. But it does not always do so to a great enough extent to make one’s long-term return a poor one. These funds did well despite Buy-and-Hold, not because of it.

Is it your position that one should ONLY invest in the S&P500 and then ONLY by using Rob Bennett’s S&P500 market-timing strategy?

No. My position is that we should all encourage the launching of a national debate on what works. The academic research has been showing for 30 years now that valuations affect long-term returns. That finding should have changed our understanding of how stock investing works in a fundamental way. Progress has been held back because The Stock-Selling Industry has put the short-term profit interests of the industry ahead of the long-term retirement interests of investors. I think that approach has become too costly for all concerned (including The Stock-Selling Industry) in recent years.

I’ve spoken with several financial planners who have told me that their clients are interested in learning about more realistic approaches. And it is clear to those willing to read between the lines a bit that the financial planners themselves would love to be able to recommend more realistic strategies. The problem is — they’re stuck. We all are feeling great shame today about how long we have let this unfortunate situation continue. Anyone who speaks up in plain and clear and no-nonsense terms about the damage that Buy-and-Hold is doing to us gets a ton of bricks thrown at him. That ain’t the way to a better place, Carlyle!

No one benefits by us all failing to learn the realities of stock investing. We need to find a way out of the corner into which we have painted ourselves. My view is that all responsible people should make an effort to open up the discussions by insisting on their right to post honestly while also showing as much compassion and charity for those who have made mistakes in earlier days as is possible.

We got into this mess together. We are going to have to find our way out of it together. The good news is that there are all sorts of wonderful insights that it becomes possible for us to profit from once we gain the ability to talk openly about what the academic research has been showing for close to three decades now. If we permitted honest and informed discussions, I believe that we could quickly restore confidence in the markets and thereby make significant progress toward the goal of overcoming the economic crisis.

Instead of reacting with hostility to new ideas (I think it would be fair to characterize the tone evidenced in your post as negative, Carlyle), we all should be excited about the learning experiences that are now possible for us. We should not only permit honest posting but invite it and welcome it and celebrate it, in my view.

Rob

“Buy-and-Hold has never worked in the real world.”

Interesting. So Vanguard’s Wellington and Wellesley Income funds are both failures? As is Bill Schultheis’s Coffeehouse Portfolio?

Is it your position that one should ONLY invest in the S&P500 and then ONLY by using Rob Bennett’s S&P500 market-timing strategy?

Are you saying that diversifying among other asset classes; small cap indexes, large cap indexes, value indexes, REIT’s, international equity indexes, etc is unnecessary? Or is it just that you have no scheme to peddle that includes any asset class other than the S&P500?

3. Did I spend my time wisely?

4. Did I have fun? What can I do to enjoy the process of earning a living, cutting my spending and investing?

I especially like the second part of number four — saving money is important, of course, but making sure that you enjoy the process is a huge part of the journey.