You need to find the real value and bargains. This will not happen over night. Do not worry if something passes you by in the meantime. Something else will come along. Promise.
Be "humble" like Wilbur the Pig. Even though you are doing well, do not get cocky. Keep it slow and easy. You do not want to lose everything you have to gain. Remember Wilbur almost lost it all with the axe after he got good and plump.
Going back to Wilbur...there was also Charlotte, who was very patient. Charlotte had a lot of patience, and it was well worth the outcome. Do not panic when the markets dips. If it is a serious dip, then still take your time. A few more days will not make a difference. Timing is very important.
Just like with everything else in life. Moderation is best. Putting all your eggs in one basket or pulling out to quickly or investing too fast does not work.
Investing too much is not a problem many people have, but it can happen. It is said that the pain of a loss has twice the emotional strength of the pleasure of a gain. For some people, this results in them pulling out of the market prematurely, as mentioned above. With time, you can learn how to make the best use of any losses.
Do not do OC (obsessive compulsive) investing and keep on looking at your account....
Let sleeping dogs lie, as they say. If you look at it too often, you will start getting itchy fingers and want to make changes. and, that has already been covered in an earlier number.
This goes hand-in-hand with moderation. You do not want to be "too" conservative and careful. You do not want to put all your money in high-risk funds. However, if you put all your money in a savings bank account that makes percent, you will never get to your strategy.
10) Finally, no humans are perfect. That is what makes them humans. So you, just like everyone else will make mistakes. It is okay to take some tips from the gurus, but do some of your own investing, too. You have a strategy different from anyone else, so should have some variations.
Malkiel's final word of advice to first-time investors: college grads, for example, "This is a great book for someone who is completely new to the field of investing." He is right. It is not so lame like "Investing for Idiots," which barely has any decent information in it. and, it is much easier to read than some of these convoluted books that make you want to think that the author is the best there is, just because it is written in such difficult terms.
References
Malkiel, B. (2003) a Random Walk Down Wall Street. NY: Norton.
