My Core Investment Beliefs

These investment beliefs drive my investment decision making and advice.

1. Time horizon is the most important variable in an investment allocation decision
2. Markets go up over the long-run, up and down in the short-run

3. You can't consistently time the market

4. Fees are inversely related to performance

"In investing, you get what you don't pay for" - John C. Bogle (Founder of Vanguard)

5. Behavior is the biggest determinant of your success as an investor

6. We can all afford the upside. But first make sure you can afford the downside.

This quote comes from my dad. We can all afford for our money to grow but it's more important to make sure we can afford the downside first.

7. It doesn't matter what other people are doing.

"Investing isn't about beating others at their game. It's about controlling yourself at your own game." – Benjamin Graham

Putting these beliefs into practice.

Here's how I put these beliefs into practice when making investment allocation decisions:

Long-term horizon: I favor a low-cost diversified investment strategy. I do not care about temporary drops in value.

Short-term horizon: I favor cash and money markets. I don't care if the markets might go up. Assuming you can't afford for this money to decrease in value.

As a result of these beliefs, I favor a diversified low-cost investment strategy for long-term money.

Taylor Stewart, CFP®
I'm a financial planner in McKinney, TX and founder of Ataroke Wealth, where I provide fee-only financial planning and investment management on an hourly, short-term, and ongoing basis. I work with clients locally and across the country. I also build financial planning software for advisors at Kerdora.