The same thing can happen when we watch amazing athletes such as Roger Federer or Tiger Woods and think to ourselves, “I could do that.” Their talent makes it look easy. Except it's not and we can't. The genius of the 1992 “Be Like Mike” Gatorade commercial speaks directly to that naive belief. You and I are about as likely to achieve 40% annual market returns as we are to win six National Basketball Association championships.
But remember, perhaps basketball's greatest outside shooter, Stephen Curry, did not try to “Be like Mike.” Instead, he honed his skills and blazed his own, different trail. Today, kids want to be like Steph. The aspiration is fine, but someday maybe they will realize the odds are better at succeeding on their own terms.
Just out of curiosity, I entered the phrase “invest like Warren Buffett” in a Google search. It yielded 78,600 hits. But Buffett has spent 60 years studying what makes for a great undervalued investment. He had patient investors who gave him space to prove himself. In Charlie Munger, he found a partner who complemented his decision-making process.
And no, you are not Warren Buffett.
But here is the thing: You don’t need to be. At least, you don’t need to be any of these people in order to achieve the investment returns that will ensure a comfortable retirement. Your temperament is different from that of Munger or Simons or Buffett or Marks or whomever. We look at these fantastic wealth-creating trades and waste our time wondering, Why not me? Instead, find an investment style that suits your personality, available time and interests as opposed to trying to match those with whom you have nothing in common.
All of these Hall of Fame investors are accessible via podcasts or YouTube. You can spend countless hours listening to the likes of Ray Dalio, Felix Zulauf, Bill Miller, Jeremy Grantham, Jeff Gundlach, Bill Gross — just about anyone you care to learn from. For the curious investor, you can hear how they found a process that suited them, their skills and their own unique capabilities.
In the "The Money Game," Adam Smith wrote “If you don’t know who you are, the market is an expensive place to find out.” Instead of trying to imitate the greats, understand your own personality: Find a style that emphasizes your strengths while working to address your weaknesses.
Be like you.
Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He founded Ritholtz Wealth Management and was chief executive and director of equity research at FusionIQ, a quantitative research firm. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”