The Sixth Patriarch, long ago in China, once passed two monks who were arguing about a flag blowing in the wind. 
One monk said, "It is the flag that is moving."  The second monk said, "It is the wind that is moving."  The Sixth Patriarch said, "You are both wrong. It is not the flag, it is not the wind; it is your minds that are moving."

Moving minds do more damage than moving markets.  The biggest mistake of them all is the one you are just about to make.

The worlds greatest golfers don't always hit the longest or most accurate drives, nor do they always putt better than the others.  They make the fewest mistakes. 

To an incredible extent, outstanding investment success relies on avoiding The Big Mistakes. Simply, investor behavior is the dominant determinant of real life returns.  Emotions destroy long-term returns.

One we've created a high quality portfolio well-suited to your goals, I become, in a very real sense, your behavioral coach--helping you to make objective decisions and avoid emotional decisions, about what to do and what not to do, regarding the portfolio.

I ask my clients to "trust the messenger more than the message," because sometimes the message--the advice--is counterintuitive and countercultural.  By making objective decisions you should end up with a far better return than do other investors; because--and I guarantee you this--other investors will make decisions that not only will 'shoot themselves in the foot, but will blow the legs off their portfolios.'

• They will speculate at the top of the market.

• They will panic at the bottom of the market.

• They will act upon advice from the media, which preaches what is working today instead of what has always worked.

• They will try to time the market.

• Some will over diversify, others will under diversify; they will make a number of the most common killer mistakes.

They will do this--not always through improper selection and timing--but through bad investment decisions fueled by emotions.  This is as predictable as the sun will shine tomorrow.

No one mistake is necessarily worse than another.  The biggest mistake of all is the one your are about to make.

For as long as you are my client, I will keep you from making the big mistakes.  The pickup in return from not making those mistakes should be a huge and enormous force in your long-term returns.

"It's dangerous when people don't know what they don't know."