It’s sound advice to not listen to strangers but I am one of a few hundred who listened to strangers on this very site and it worked like a charm. The difference is that what they said jived with what I was feeling and was also consistent with what I could see with my own eyes. What it did was reinforce what my uneducated mind felt, with facts, examples and data. I will eternally be grateful to piggington and it contributors over the years. It’was an education that I will never lose. But make no mistake, we were all contrarians and thought differently than the masses. The problem is that view doesn’t apply to all situations, however the formula does. Credit Rich and many of the original gangsters, approach everything without bias, look at the facts and the data and remove as much emotion as possible. Don’t just look at it and think it’s going to fall apart and plan accordingly, only act that way of the data supports it. In 2006, that theory applied to local real estate, however it didn’t apply to stocks in 2008. Some people get get locked into a play, be more flexible. It’s like blackjack, you play your hand based on what it is, but also what the dealer is showing. People forget to factor the dealer’s card too often, I have. Right now it’s 2014, the dealer is showing a different card than it did in 2006 and 2008, and the stock market, and the real estate market have different dealers.
Personally, I think the future is bright, but it doesn’t mean that every bet and every card will be what you want. You still have to analyze the data, look at the dealers card and play the odds. No matter how good the future looks, never hit a 16 against a dealer 5. But it depends on the table you are sitting at and the dealers cars, because sometimes you should take a hot card on 16. In 2008 I should have. That part of my education had a pricier tuition than most, but that’s all it is, tuition and it will always be money well spent.
