However, all isn't lost. We aren't doomed to continuing to play the loser's game Wall Street and the media needs and wants investors to play. You can learn to stop trying to manage returns through active strategies. Instead, you should focus on the things you actually can control - the amount of risk you take, diversifying those risks as much as possible, costs, tax efficiency and not spending too much.
Larry Swedroe is a principal and the director of research of the BAM ALLIANCE, a community of more than 130 independent wealth management firms delivering on the promise of true wealth management and representing more than $16.8 billion in collective assets under management and administration (as of Sept. 30, 2012).