With investing there is a novel little concept called “standard deviation,” and what that means makes no sense to me, so will share with you.

Edelman explains it like this (see p. 234): 

“The standard deviation is the amount of swing in performance
that an investment can be expected to have from year to year …
an investment’s “average variation from average return.”

“The higher the standard of deviation, the greater the volatility, the greater the risk”
(and possible reward – thas mine)

Essentially, the standard deviation of any stock an investor can be comfortable with will vary by investor, and a fund’s return in any particular year will likely be higher or lower than (i.e., will “vary”) the average.  That is, a low standard of deviation is pretty constant/low reward+risk, whereas a high standard of deviation tends to fluctuate wildly/high reward+risk.  Choose the poison of choice. 

Two additional considerations …
              1.           Investment return = the fund’s average rate of return / total return of fund
              2.           Investor return = the return on the $$$ invested / actual earnings from buy/sell

Must consider investing with the same eye as China viewed the sale of Hong Kong

→ Take the Long View ←

Buy, and hold.  BUT!!!  (and with investing there’s always a “but,” a “caveat,” another consideration …

When buying into the market, always establish two sell prices:
              Price higher than the buy price / cash in; get the money and RUN
              Price lower than the buy price / cut losses and take the dump

Can also use time/duration … buy in, leave it, then sell after 5-10-20 years
Can also use event … buy when kid hits kindergarten, sell day after HS graduation

Anyhoo, at any rate, investing requires active thought, even if just in panicked fits of bursts. 
Determine comfort level of/for risk, watch the investor return, plan when to sell, BUT
always take the long view with investing … over time, the market has always gone up.

Get on the elevator.