When Not Paying Attention Pays Off

New York Times, March 25, 2016

Pay attention to your teacher. Pay attention to detail. Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention! Our entire lives we’re warned: Pay attention, or.… Well, you know. The worst will happen.

But when it comes to your investment portfolio, please do not pay too much attention to it. Market research clearly shows that when your horizon is not today, not next week, but way in the future, the most profitable strategy is to invest more heavily in riskier assets — that is, stocks — than people are prone to do.