There is no silver bullet.

A lot of people who talk about investing don’t seem to get this. They view it on ideological grounds. Cryptocurrency boys spar it out on social media with gold bugs.

Belief in their chosen investment borders on fanaticism, and when their beloved commodity crashes in value, they rationalize how it’s just a hiccup.

The check can’t be in the mail forever.

Cardinal Richelieu allegedly said treason is merely a matter of dates. The same could be said for effective investing.

If you bought a home and invested in the stock market in 1980, right now you’re making out like a bandit. But if you bought gold at the same time, you’re still waiting to recover the money put in – not the same for someone who bought it in 2003.

The reverse is true for someone who bought a home in 2007 and was forced to sell it in 2009.

If you got into Bitcoin in 2013 and held onto it until now, you’ve made a digital fortune up there with buying a San Francisco home in 1950; but the same can’t be said for someone who bought Bitcoin in March 2021. The same with the GameStop stock roller coaster ride.

When you think about it, this same delusion is found in military theory. Everyone keeps thinking the next war will be determined in a single battle using specific, singularly-focused “bulletproof” strategy. Then it drags on for four years as the bodies stack up.