| No. 6: The way to beat the market is with your security selection. No one slays the S&P 500 by jumping from cash into the market and back into cash over and over again. The way to enjoy superior returns is by owning great-performing companies that appreciate much more than the average stock. There will always be stocks that deliver blockbuster returns. Owning just a few of them can have a huge impact on your total return. No. 7: In the investment world, you get what you don't pay for. This is the opposite of what's true in virtually every other aspect of life, where high prices are generally a sign of superior quality. But it's not the case in the financial arena where your annual return is reduced by the amount you pay in fees. Studies consistently show that over periods of 10 years or more, not 1 in 10 fund managers can outperform their benchmark. These are low odds. The goal is for you to get rich, not your financial advisor. No. 8: You need to tax-manage your portfolio. This starts with your Asset Location strategy. Put your high-yielding securities - like junk bonds, real estate investment trusts and big dividend payers - in your qualified retirement plan where they will compound tax-deferred. Put your tax-efficient individual stocks and index funds in your non-retirement accounts. Offset your realized gains with realized losses, where possible. Own state-specific, tax-free bonds if you are in the upper tax brackets. And do your short-term trading in your retirement accounts. Follow these basic steps and you will legally stiff-arm the IRS - without raising any eyebrows. No. 9: Be a rational optimist. Nearly 40 years ago, I began studying the world's greatest investors, like Warren Buffett, Peter Lynch, and John Templeton. What surprised me was that these men had an optimism about the future that simply didn't have an off switch. We all know the many negative developments because the media cover them ad nauseam. But human beings have enjoyed enormous progress over the years, including faster communications, safer transportation, life-saving medicines, and countless other innovations. If you truly believe that we live on a horrible planet at a terrible time and the world is going to hell in a handbasket, why risk your hard-earned money in the stock market? Pessimists see the difficulties in every opportunity. Optimists see the opportunities in every difficulty. No. 10: Your true wealth is measured by "the magnitude of your gratitude." Your most valuable asset is not your house, your bank account or your investment portfolio. It's the amount of time you have left on this little blue ball. If you have decent health, a loving family, good friends, and varied interests, consider yourself blessed. But recognize that this only touches the surface. For 99.9% of human history, life was a brutal struggle to stay warm, stay fed, and stay safe in an unforgiving world. Most of our ancestors were dead by the age of 30, usually of unnatural causes. I strongly recommend Enlightenment Now and The Better Angels of Our Nature by Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker. Read them and you will have a better understanding of just how lucky you are. And that can't help but make you feel wealthier. Good investing, Alex | 
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