“Buy low, sell high” is some of the worst advice in investing. It implies that you, the investor, is somehow supposed to nimbly navigate the tumultuous seas of the stock market, pouncing on opportunities to buy when prices are low then deftly locking in those gains when prices are high.

This behavior couldn’t be further from optimal investing behavior. Optimal investing isn’t about guessing whether the market is low or high and trying to lock in profits. It’s about slowly acquiring more shares over time. Market low? Buy. Market high? Buy. Scary headline? Buy. All time record? Buy. Terrible economy? Buy.

Do you know what happens after all of that? YOU OWN A TON OF SHARES. And the market will continue to march upwards (eventually) as the economy goes on.

Often people ask, “Ok, so when do you sell?” Ideally, never. You’ll eventually own so many shares you can live off the dividends alone without selling anything. My portfolio currently kicks off about $60,000/year in dividend. It’s like a 40 hour/week income for doing NOTHING except collecting the checks. And there aren’t even checks to collect! They deposit the money electronically!

Beyond dividends, I never sell in response to world or economic events. I 100% fully ignore that stuff. I sell based on MY life. I sold some recently when I needed the money to buy a house. That was a good move for me because it’s a nice house. As time goes on, and I need the money to live, I’ll sell a little bit each year, say a few percent, and leave the other ninety-something percent to grow for next year. That’s it. That’s the strategy to live off your investments forever without any of the stock picking, day trading, speculative nonsense.

As always, reminding you to build wealth by following the two PFC rules: 1.) Live below your means and 2.) Invest early and often.

-Jeremy