Bernard Baruch’s 10 Rules of Investing

You want someone to emulate?

Bernard Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was the son of a South Carolina physician whose family moved to New York City when he was eleven year old. By his mid-twenties, he is able to buy an $18,000 seat on the exchange with his winnings and commissions from being a broker. By age 30, he is a millionaire and is known all over The Street as “The Lone Wolf”.

In his two-volume 1957 memoirs, My Own Story, Baruch left us with the following timeless rules for playing the game:

“Being so skeptical about the usefulness of advice, I have been reluctant to lay down any ‘rules’ or guidelines on how to invest or speculate wisely. Still, there are a number of things I have learned from my own experience which might be worth listing for those who are able to muster the necessary self-discipline:”

1. Don’t speculate unless you can make it a full-time job.

2. Beware of barbers, beauticians, waiters — of anyone — bringing gifts of “inside” information or “tips.”

3. Before you buy a security, find out everything you can about the company, its management and competitors, its earnings and possibilities for growth.

4. Don’t try to buy at the bottom and sell at the top. This can’t be done — except by liars.

5. Learn how to take your losses quickly and cleanly. Don’t expect to be right all the time. If you have made a mistake, cut your losses as quickly as possible.

6. Don’t buy too many different securities. Better have only a few investments which can be watched.

7. Make a periodic reappraisal of all your investments to see whether changing developments have altered their prospects.

8. Study your tax position to know when you can sell to greatest advantage.

9. Always keep a good part of your capital in a cash reserve. Never invest all your funds.

10. Don’t try to be a jack of all investments. Stick to the field you know best.

Baruch would later go on from Wall Street to Washington DC as an advisor to both Woodrow Wilson and to FDR during World War II.

Later, he became known as the Park Bench Statesman, owing to his fondness for discussing policy and politics with his acquaintances outdoors.

He lived til a few days shy of his 95th birthday in 1965. You could do worse than to invest and live based on these simple truths.

 

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

Wealthcast Media, an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.

What's been said:

Discussions found on the web
  1. سكس commented on May 01

    سكس

    […]check beneath, are some completely unrelated websites to ours, nonetheless, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

  2. hilo home inspection service commented on May 02

    hilo home inspection service

    […]we like to honor many other web web-sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages worth checking out[…]

  3. best inspection company commented on May 02

    best inspection company

    […]just beneath, are various completely not related websites to ours, on the other hand, they’re certainly really worth going over[…]

  4. Brick Pavers Company in Manasquan NJ commented on May 02

    Brick Pavers Company in Manasquan NJ

    […]below you’ll locate the link to some web pages that we believe you ought to visit[…]

  5. proizvodstvennyi calendar commented on May 02

    proizvodstvennyi calendar

    […]The data mentioned inside the write-up are a few of the very best out there […]

  6. best portable vaporizer commented on May 03

    best portable vaporizer

    […]usually posts some quite intriguing stuff like this. If you are new to this site[…]

  7. anal plug set commented on May 03

    anal plug set

    […]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I enjoy but do not get a good deal of link like from[…]

  8. aflamsex commented on May 03

    aflamsex

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nevertheless actually really worth taking a search, whoa did 1 find out about Mid East has got far more problerms too […]

  9. Curency conveter commented on May 03

    Curency conveter

    […]very few internet websites that take place to become in depth below, from our point of view are undoubtedly nicely worth checking out[…]

  10. frases top commented on May 03

    frases top

    […]one of our visitors lately suggested the following website[…]

  11. rottweiler puppy commented on May 04

    rottweiler puppy

    […]we came across a cool web page that you could possibly appreciate. Take a look when you want[…]

  12. Xxx live sexy cams commented on May 04

    Xxx live sexy cams

    […]check beneath, are some totally unrelated web sites to ours, however, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

  13. Trending hip hop commented on May 04

    Trending hip hop

    […]please stop by the web pages we comply with, such as this 1, as it represents our picks through the web[…]