Common Investing Contradictions

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA MEd CMP

Eugene Schmuckler; PhD MBA MEd CTS

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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1. “Buy the dip” vs. “Don’t catch a falling knife”

  • A falling price is either a bargain or a warning sign — and you only know which after the fact.

2. “Time in the market beats timing the market” vs. “Price matters”

  • Long-term compounding is powerful, yet buying at the wrong valuation can cripple returns for decades.

3. “Diversify” vs. “Concentrate to build wealth”

  • Broad diversification protects you.
  • Concentration is how most fortunes are made.

4. “Be greedy when others are fearful” vs. “The trend is your friend”

  • Contrarianism says go against the crowd.
  • Trend-following says go with it.

5. “Past performance doesn’t predict future results” vs. “Winners tend to keep winning”

  • Momentum is real.
  • So is mean reversion.

6. “High risk, high reward” vs. “High risk often means high loss”

  • Risk can lead to outsized gains — or wipeouts.
  • The line between the two is rarely clear in real time.

7. “Cash is trash” vs. “Cash is king”

  • Holding cash hurts returns during bull markets.
  • Holding cash is priceless during crashes.

8. “Stay the course” vs. “Adapt to changing conditions”

  • Discipline matters.
  • So does flexibility when the world shifts.

9. “Buy what you know” vs. “Your circle of competence limits you”

  • Familiarity helps you understand a business.
  • But sticking only to what you know can leave you under-diversified or missing opportunities.

10. “Markets are efficient” vs. “Markets are driven by human emotion”

  • Prices often reflect all available information.
  • Until they don’t — and fear or euphoria takes over.

11. “Don’t try to beat the market” vs. “Someone has to beat the market”

  • Indexing works for most people.
  • But the market’s returns come from a minority of big winners — held by someone.

12. “Buy low, sell high” vs. “Low can go lower, high can go higher”

  • Value investors love bargains.
  • Momentum investors love strength.
  • Both can be right — and wrong.

13. “Patience pays” vs. “Opportunity cost is real”

  • Holding for decades can create massive wealth.
  • But holding the wrong thing for decades destroys it.

14. “Real estate always goes up” vs. “Real estate crashes happen”

  • Property is a long-term wealth builder.
  • Until leverage turns it into a liability.

15. “Follow expert advice” vs. “Experts disagree on everything”

  • Analysts, economists, and fund managers all have data.
  • They still reach opposite conclusions.

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PARADOXES: Beware Financial and Investing Contradictions

Posted on July 21, 2025 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

By Staff Reporters

SPONSOR: http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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As we plan for our financial future, I think it’s helpful to be cognizant of these paradoxes. While there’s nothing we can do to control or change them, there is great value in being aware of them, so we can approach them with the right tools and the right mindset.

Here are just seven of the paradoxes that can bedevil financial planning and investment decision-making:

  • There’s the paradox that all of the greatest fortunes—Carnegie, Rockefeller, Buffett, Gates—have been made by owning just one stock. And yet the best advice for individual investors is to do the opposite: to own broadly diversified index funds.
  • There’s the paradox that the stock market may appear overvalued and yet it could become even more overvalued before it eventually declines. And when it does decline, it may be to a level that is even higher than where it is today.
  • There’s the paradox that we make plans based on our understanding of the rules—and yet Congress can change the rules on us at any time, as it did just a few weeks ago.
  • There’s the paradox that we base our plans on historical averages—average stock market returns, average interest rates, average inflation rates and so on—and yet we only lead one life, so none of us will experience the average.
  • There’s the paradox that we continue to be attracted to the prestige of high-cost colleges, even though a rational analysis that looks at return on investment tells us that lower-cost state schools are usually the better bet.
  • There’s the paradox that early retirement seems so appealing—and has even turned into a movement—and yet the reality of early retirement suggests that we might be better off staying at our desks.
  • There’s the paradox that retirees’ worst fear is outliving their money and yet few choose the financial product that is purpose-built to solve that problem: the single-premium immediate annuity.

Assessment

QUESTION: How should you respond to these paradoxes? As you plan for your financial future, embrace the concept of “loosely held views.” In other words, make financial plans, but continuously update your views, question your assumptions and rethink your priorities.

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