Rob Bennett

Rob Bennett’s A Rich Life blog aims to put the “personal” back into “personal finance” - he focuses on the role played by emotion in saving and investing decisions. Rob developed the Passion Saving approach to money management; Passion Savers save not to finance their old-age retirements but to enjoy more freedom and opportunity in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s - because they pursue saving goals over which they feel a more intense personal concern, they are more motivated to save effectively. He also developed the Valuation-Informed Indexing investing strategy, a strategy that combines the most powerful insights of Vanguard Founder John Bogle and Yale Professsor Robert Shiller in a simple approach offering higher returns at greatly diminished risk. Tom Gardner, co-founder of the Motley Fool web site, said of Rob’s work: “The elegant simplicty of his ideas warms the heart and startles the brain.”

Bull Markets Are Hard to Pull Off

Bull markets don’t just happen. It takes a lot of work to persuade stock investors that it’s okay to go … Read more

The Paradoxes of Investor Emotion

I believe that stock investors should aim to be as rational as possible. I believe that the big risk of … Read more

Is Valuation-Based Market Timing Really Market Timing?

I am a big-time advocate of valuation-based market timing. In a world in which valuations affect long-term timing (the world … Read more

Arc of History Bends Toward Rationality in Stock Investing

The Arc of History in Stock Investing Bends Toward Rationality

I put a post to a Motley Fool discussion board at 9 A.M. on the morning of May 13, 2002. … Read more

We Know Little About How Irrational Exuberance Works

Irrational exuberance is a strange phenomenon. That word “irrational” is disturbing. Shiller was writing about stock investing in his book. … Read more

There Is Both Huge Support for and Huge Opposition to Valuation-Based Market Timing

Valuation-Informed Indexing is Buy-and-Hold with Valuation-based market timing added to the mix. Valuation-Informed Indexers don’t go with the same stock … Read more

Can Investors Be Both Rational and Emotional at the Same Time?

Are stock investors 100 percent rational? Or are they 100 percent emotional? Or are they a mix, rational in some … Read more

The Idea That Valuation-Based Market Timing Is Not Required Is Reinforced Each Time the Non-Adjusted Stock Price is Quoted

It’s not logic that persuades the human mind. It’s repetition. There was a time when people accepted slavery. No logical … Read more

People Want to Believe That They Know How Stock Investing Works – Shiller’s Huge Advance is Disorienting

Shiller revolutionized our understanding of how stock investing works with the publication of his Nobel-prize-winning research showing that valuations affect … Read more

Doubts About Buy-and-Hold vs market timing price discipline irrational exuberance

The Claim that Buy-and-Hold Is Research-Based Is a Marketing Gimmick

Buy-and-Hold is not a research-based strategy. I once believed that it was. I was once a Buy-and-Holder myself because I … Read more

Most Buy-and-Hold Dogmas Have Never Been Formally Stated

I believe that the people who developed the Buy-and-Hold stock investment strategy made a mistake. The Buy-and-Holders often advise investors … Read more

Many People Believe That There’s Research Showing That Market Timing Doesn’t Work

Many people believe that there’s research showing that market timing doesn’t work. There isn’t. It’s a myth. There’s research showing … Read more

Shiller’s Research Shows Why Stock Forecasting’s Record Is So Poor

The Buy-and-Holders got a lot of things right. I believe that they made a terrible mistake in thinking that valuation-based … Read more

Stock Investing Is a Community Endeavor

Stock investing is a solitary endeavor. The purpose is to finance your personal old-age retirement. It is your job to … Read more

The Same Forces That Explain Bull Markets Explain the Suppression of Discussion of Shiller’s Research Findings

Buy-and-Hold is nothing new. The term is relatively new. But the idea has been around for as far back as … Read more

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