This morning I watched WealthTrack with Matt Mclellan, who is now running several First Eagle funds, including the global funds which has some amazing records for the trailing periods. He provided some new ideas that were very compelling for me...but the main idea that I like was this: The real risk is not investing because there are no real risk free assets. This, simply put, is that with the real inflation numbers taken into account, preservation of capital is impossible, Mclellan states, unless you invest. Put simply, the challenge and fear for most individual investors is that there is entirely too much volatility in the markets. Looking at a good overall measure of volatility in the market, the VIX as a component of certain ETNs, you can look at this as an example: http://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSEARCA%3AVXX In the end, McLellan argues, you must construct your portfolio from good individual businesses.
small steps toward making myself a better, richer, and happier man.