Hey, it’s Dan — and today, my dad and I flipped the script.
Everyone loves to brag about their biggest wins.
But this time, we talked about our dumbest investments.
The ones that hurt a little.
And the lessons that stuck forever.
🧠 Rule #1: Don’t Invest in What You Don’t Understand
This one’s straight from Peter Lynch — the guy who ran the Magellan Fund.
“Invest in what you know.”
Sounds simple, right?
My dad thought so too... until he ignored it.
He got caught up in small gold miners — companies that looked exciting but were basically slot machines disguised as stocks.
No earnings reports. No clear path. No transparency.
Then he took it one step further — buying into a Russian mining company with a juicy dividend.
Six months later, U.S.–Russia relations tanked... and so did his $4,000.
That stock?
Still sitting there today. Frozen. Unsellable.
As he says, “Technically I still own it — but I might as well have mailed that cash to Moscow.”
💸Rule #2: Know Your Allocation — and Don’t Get Greedy
Dad’s second mistake? Breaking his own money rulebook.
He divides investing into three buckets:
Speculative (10%) — your “moonshot” money.
Growth (30%) — good companies, reasonable risk.
Sleep Well at Night (60%) — solid, boring, dependable.
But during 2019–2021, he went heavy on speculation — chasing those small miners again.
Result: a flat three years while the S&P 500 gained nearly 50%.
The problem wasn’t bad timing.
It was greed.
“I got away with not going broke,” he said.
“But I didn’t get ahead either.”
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💬 The Takeaways
Don’t chase what you don’t understand.
Stick to a process — not emotions.
Discipline beats prediction, every time.
Greed’s the most expensive teacher there is.
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Even the smartest investors make dumb moves — the trick is learning before it costs you more.
— Dan & Steve