When it comes to investing, sometimes the best moves are those you haven’t made. in How to not invest, ideas to destroy wealth, numbers, actions, and how to avoid themfinancial strategist Barry Littlez flips the script on traditional investment advice, focusing on avoiding common pitfalls rather than chasing flashy strategies. His core message? Successful investments often avoid discipline, patience and your own worst instincts. The premise of this book is that investment is not that much about what you are right, and that is to avoid mistakes.
Barry Littlez, highly respected voice
Barry Littlez is one of the most respected voices in the finance world, known for his nonsense approach to investment and his ability to get through market hype. He is co-founder and chief investment officer Ritholtz Wealth Managementcompanies that emphasize evidence-based investments and long-term financial planning.
In addition to managing billions of client assets, Ritholtz is a prolific author and commentator. He has published thousands of columns on investments in the Washington Post, Bloomberg and Street. The whole picture.
Additionally, he hosts the popular Bloomberg podcast.Master of business,” He interviews top minds in finance, economics and business.
What sets Ritholtz apart is his deep understanding of behavioral finance. How do our emotions and cognitive biases affect investment decisions? “How to not invest?” Distill decades of research and experience into a simple and powerful message: What is the best investor? do not have do.
Bad ideas, bad numbers, bad behavior, and good advice
Ritholtz organizes How to not invest In four clear and persuasive sections: bad ideas, bad numbers, bad behavior, and good advice. Each part tackles a variety of investment failures that could quietly derail your financial success.
- in Bad ideas, Ritholtz explores fascinating yet flawed strategies that often mislead investors.
- Bad numbers It divides into data misuse, showing how misleading statistics and inadequate assumptions can distort decisions.
- Bad behavior The psychological trap that even the smartest investors underlines fear, greed, overconfidence, and more.
- Finally, Good advicehe shares implemented principles and practices that actually work.
Together, these sections provide a roadmap to not only avoid mistakes, but also to become a more grounded and thoughtful investor.
Three great ideas from Barry Littlez’s amazing books, How to not invest
1. Bad thoughts: Follow the emotional ups and downs of financial media
What is one of the most dangerous habits for investors? Get clues from financial media. in How to not investRitholtz warns that the media is not designed to help you build wealth. It is designed to attract your attention. Headlines are created to stir emotions, amplify fear, promise quick wealth, and provide thoughtful, long-term investment guidance.
Ritholtz claims that Responds to the news cycle– Whether it’s a market crash, a political shift or a hot stock pick is a quick track for bad decisions. Media thrives with urgency, but good investments are successful in patience. When you break the news or talk with bold predictions, you are more likely to fall into the trend of impulsive trading, market time getting worse, or being capricious.
What should I do instead: Ritholz advises adjusting the noise and tuning inside you Original financial plan – Based on evidence tailored to your goals and restored to a hype machine. After all, the best investment advice is rarely provided in real time on cable news.
- This is a great discussion for Boldin Retirement Planner and is undoubtedly the most complete financial planning tool available online, with full control over your own financial future.
2. Bad Numbers: Economic Myriad
Economic myriad refers to the inability to understand, interpret, or critically evaluate economic and financial numbers. Not only is mathematical skills bad, it’s also misunderstanding how numbers apply to real-world economic decisions.
Countless people economically:
- confusion Nominal and actual returnsignores inflation
- Incorrectly judge the impact of Compound interest (both how powerful it is and how late it starts)
- Shaking Cherry Pick Statistics Or misleading graphs
- take Accurate predictions In fact, not an uncertain estimate
- Misinterpret economic indicators such as GDP, unemployment rate, and CPI
- Responding emotionally to loud sounds without context (e.g. “Dark debt!” vs. “Due to debt as a percentage of GDP”)
Ritholtz highlights economic myriad as a core issue How to not invest Because it leads people to make poor financial decisions based on bad or misunderstood data.
His advice? They are skeptical of those who learn the fundamentals of how numbers work in the context of investment and present data that is not explained or contextual.
Boldin Planner and Innumeracy: The Boldin Retirement Planner is designed to solve countless problems by making complex financial mathematics clear, contextual and viable.
- Transparent assumption
- With the ability to switch between actual (inflation adjustment) and nominal values, we can see the true future purchasing power of savings
- Instead of displaying a single “magic number”, Boldin enables both Monte Carlo and scenario-based simulations to explain market volatility, cost changes and uncertainty.
- Charts, graphs, and lifetime views help you grasp key concepts such as compounding, tax drugs, or withdrawal tax impacts, without the need for a financial degree
- When you use the tool, you Learn by doing it. Boldin helps you understand the “why” behind numbers so that you can make better decisions, even outside of software
The Boldin Planner is not just a calculator, it is a thinking tool. It helps you get through noise, avoid common numerical traps, and make smarter decisions based on reality. It’s not hype or confusion.
3. Bad Behavior: Give Up to Yourself Cognitive Bias
One of the most undervalued risks in investing is not market volatility, but the way your brain responds to it. in How to not investRitholtz sheds light on the subtle and powerful role that cognitive bias plays in derailing superior economic decisions. These are mental shortcuts, built for survival, not investment, but often misleading us.
Ritholtz explains that biases such as confirmation bias, overconfidence, hindsight bias, and loss aversion can cloud our judgment and cloud our fuel impulsive decisions. For example, sales may feel like they accept failure (loss hatred), so they may cling to a lost inventory. Alternatively, they may ignore warning signs because they only want opinions that support existing beliefs (confirmation bias). What’s worse, in times of stress, these biases become complicated.
The danger is that we are not only biased, but we rarely notice it. That’s why Ritholtz insists on creating systems that protect us from ourselves, including automated contributions, diversified portfolios, and written investment rules that reduce space for emotional decision-making.
Recognizing your biases will not weaken you. It makes you a smarter investor. The more you notice these mental traps, the more you are equipped to avoid avoidable mistakes.
Learn more about behavioral finance and how to avoid avoidable mistakes.
Don’t invest without a long-term financial plan
ritholtz’s How to not invest It’s full of wisdom. And we have an especially respected idea at Boldin. A successful investment is not about choosing a winner, but about planning. Without a long-term financial roadmap, even the smartest strategies can violate pressure, emotions, or short-term noise.
Where is that Boldin Retirement Planner It’s coming in. It’s not just a calculator, it’s a powerful and personalized planning tool that helps you see the big picture. From mapping your retirement goals to understanding taxes, risks, spending, and what-if scenarios, Boldin Planner gives you clear, confident and control over your financial future.
