Key insights
- The user, a medical professional, is questioning the value of individual stock picking and fundamental analysis versus solely investing in index funds like VOO. They are seeking validation on whether developing these skills offers a tangible advantage or if it's akin to gambling, given historical data suggesting index funds often outperform active management. This reflects a common investor dilemma regarding active vs. passive strategies.
Made a post yesterday but need to add clarification. I'm in medicine (anesthesia) with 2 years left in training. and then will be a full physician. Since college, I have been investing in VOO only. My plan will be to pay off loans ASAP dedicate 4-5k a month to VOO until retirement.
The reason for this post is i've always loved the idea of stocks and looking at fundamentals to try to find upcoming companies. I did an MBA and loved this portion of my finance/accounting class. My portfolio only has VOO but I would love to add growth/value stocks in the future.
What deters me are the classic stats of no one beats the index funds and the monkey experiment where they went head to head with wall street investors. My initial plan was to invest mostly in VOO 90% with 10% in stocks with the understanding that I could not make anything in that 10%.
Is fundamental analysis and learning more about valuation even a worthwhile skill or am I no better than a monkey lol? I love the idea and want to actually read books and learn more about it; but at the same time if its no better than gambling at the casino, it might not be worth it. I just do not want to spend hours on a skill that has little to no actual return.
Realistically, why would you want to invest in stocks vs just holding an ETF when the data says stocks underperform in the long run?