Over the past year, we’ve shared investing ideas we believe are key to achieving long-term success. For convenience, we’ve distilled those past articles into 10 Investment Principles. Hopefully, these will prove helpful in some small way:

 

The Stock Market: A place where money moves from the impatient to the patient.

 

1. MAINTAIN DISCIPLINE. The single most important attribute for investment success is maintaining a consistent strategy. Invest within areas of competence. Think independently. Understand economic and business cycles, as well as the direction of interest rates.
2. BET ON AMERICA: The world’s largest, most innovative, most transparent and most law-centric economy. For countless reasons, many have bet against. They’ve been wrong.
3. COLLECT DIVIDENDS (BOND INTEREST TOO). There are significant data over long periods of time showing companies that consistently return capital to shareholders are often the best managed, as leadership has to be highly effective capital allocators. There are near 70 companies that have consistently increased their dividend payouts every year for over 25 consecutive years (“Dividend Aristocrats”). Unlike almost anything else, they offer a fairly dependable annual boost in income. More are on a purposeful path to reaching Aristocrat status.
4. COMPOUNDING IS POWERFUL. “The eighth wonder of the world.” Time plays a key role in maximizing the benefits of steady, methodical compounding. The younger we are, the greater the advantage.
5. CONSIDER THE BALANCE SHEET. Successful companies that are light on debt have the latitude to weather most any storm. Time works in these companies’ interests, as capital is allocated into long-term business strategies. Return on Equity helps portray the business moat. A higher ROE usually means a wider moat for the business.
6. DIVERSIFY. It’s a risky world. Obtain international exposure with U.S. companies that do meaningful overseas business too and have dedicated teams to effectively manage foreign sales and currency exposures. Stay diligent to uncover one’s investment concentrations. Well-understood and purposefully measured concentrations are fine, while unrecognized concentrations are not.
7. IGNORE NOISE. Whether from Wall Street, investment strategists, politicians, financial media, so-called experts, technicians or acquaintances. Stay wholly dedicated to one’s investment approach. Have a healthy skepticism; especially with the salesperson.
8. PRICE AND LIQUIDITY MATTER. Understand value, quality, and liquidity, while having an intentional bias towards “Margain-of-Safety.” Buying on sale is foundational. If it’s complex, it’s likely misunderstood, has liquidity challenges – especially in times of stress, when it’s often most needed – and is too expensive. The salesperson frequently favors illiquid investments, but it requires a never-ending vigilance in seeking accurate valuations.
9. CALCULATE TAXES AND FEES. Know the math and what is retained. Complexity is easily misunderstood and usually expensive. Always minimize expenses. Understand all tax implications.
10. MEASURE RISK VERSUS REWARD. Never chase a tip, a rumor, or anything that appears too good to be true. Every investment should be analyzed in relation to U.S. Treasury interest rates. Favor simplicity over complexity. Protect against investment disasters. Downside performance can prove just as important as upside performance. Risk often comes from not knowing what we’re doing but thinking that we do. 

 

Some concluding thoughts

Investing need not be complicated. It should be easy enough to casually explain to a friend. Buy quality businesses at prices below their true worth, hold them for a long time, and always minimize expenses. A short focus, which often derives from Wall Street and financial media, will not lead to a long profit. There should never be a rush in making an investment. Time is our friend when pursuing shrewd investments. Once the work is done, time remains our ally, fostering natural growth and steady compounding that should lead to expected outcomes.

We don’t need Fox Business, CNBC or a Bloomberg terminal to get investing right. In fact, we can largely ignore the daily onslaught of opinions. Pundits often speak not from deep knowledge, but rather because someone asked them to. However, it is prudent to seek out those who have long histories of investing accomplishment and carefully consider their wisdom. Reading is a great way to do so. Much of what we have shared throughout is easily found in the writings of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. 

In the months ahead, we’ll share some recommended books and dive deeper into stock investing, highlighting different strategies and diverse viewpoints. We plan to explore the bond market too.

Most importantly, an abundance of money can easily misguide us towards independence, but the Bible reminds us of just how dependent we truly are. We should never forget that investment success is temporary. And when given, God intends it to raise our standard of giving. He will measure our lives, not with a tape around our heads, or the weight of our wallets, but rather by the depth of our hearts. 

 

Patrick J. Kelly has spent more than four decades at the most senior levels in the financial services industry. He has held executive leadership positions in banking and securities firms, served numerous profit and nonprofit boards, possesses advanced education in economics, accounting and finance, and has been a featured guest in numerous financial media forums. At present, he endeavors to impart his experience and knowledge to younger generations whenever possible while also offering consultation on securities and banking industry practices for litigation-related expert witness testimony.

For more Good News, read the GOOD NEWS June 2026 Issue at: https://digital.goodnewsfl.org/2026/june/#1