August 2025 Mailbag: Sports Bettor Turned Investor

28:30And there are different, you can go deep math on that and be really serious about it, or you can be a little bit lighter. But keeping things really high level, not losing the forest for the trees, I think just tracking your overall performance versus the market, Andy, you and I would both agree that's the most important thing of all. And a real minority of people in my experience, Andy, even do that. I think that's true, David. And even as I think you're going to get to, even fewer people and fewer systems even track at the stock basis because so many people out there, sadly, don't invest in stocks at the individual or care really about the individual level or they're not holding long enough that there's trading in and out.

29:12So yes, I think the portfolio level, because it includes your cash investments, it includes maybe other investments you have at that brokerage house. And of course, like through the Motley Fool or other services that can kind of amalgamate different portfolios together. I mean, I have, David, I manage probably when I include my family and all the different accounts I have access to, you know, eight, seven, eight, nine portfolios. Yowzer. So it's a lot to try. My kids' accounts, I have multiple accounts for my kids, 529s, 401ks, 403bs. So pulling those all together, and I've talked to other investors about this, It is a real challenge to get those all together in a holistic view of your overall financial health.

29:54It is important to think about that, but unfortunately, the tools out there are a little bit lacking. Often, John Kay, when I'm quoting the performance of a stock that I've picked, I have the special benefit of just looking at that row in Motley Fool Stock Advisor or Motley Fool Rule Breakers because I was the one who picked the stock back on that date. So I have the whole company working behind me because that's being tracked and scored. And when dividends come out, we adjust our cost bases for those in some of these cases. And so I'm the lazy bum who gets not to have to do it myself because our company is tracking the performance of Stock Advisor picks or Rule Breaker picks.

30:36But when left to my lonesome, I am a big Google Sheets fan. So I am all about creating my own little spreadsheets for a portfolio I might be tracking or individual stocks. And I keep it really simple. I don't worry too much about dividends, Andy and everybody else listening. When you don't invest in that many dividend paying stocks, it makes it easier to track accurately. And certainly Rule Breaker Investing tends, ironically, maybe along with Warren Buffett, to not be invested in that many stocks that pay dividends. but for the most part i'm always tagging the date i picked the stock the cost basis where i got the stock what the s &p 500 was closing at on that day and even if you didn't note it on that day you can go back using historical pricing and see what the s &p 500 was on any given day and then i'm already comparing how that stock does against the market every day going forward and of course when you're using a spreadsheet like Google Sheets, they update in real time all the time.

31:37So I can go in right away and see how those last 10 stocks that I picked, at what price on what day, how each of them is doing, and then how they're doing against the market. So I think both of us, Andy, are kind of cobbling together what makes the most sense. And maybe we don't need to track all nine of those accounts that you are managing, or maybe some count for more than others. Well, that's exactly right, David. Some do count for more than others. And I'm more active in. And so I was in preparation for our conversation. I was just looking through some of my accounts. And there are ways, especially for those dividends and those that I reinvest dividends, it lays out what the reinvested dividend price was.

32:16It doesn't compare it against the S &P 500s, but you can download that information into the spreadsheet. So if you really want to get specific from those reinvested dividends, and of course, I don't even reinvest all my dividends back into stocks. I might take into cash that goes into the overall portfolio performance. So there are ways to do that. I think the spirit of it is a little bit more important. So what I tend to track always is my initial buy price. And when I actively go in and add more, if I'm going to add, you know, I'm going to go in and make, I just did this morning, I'm going to go in and buy more of company XYZ, not XYZ, the ticker, just company ABC, whatever it might be, to buy that company.

32:56If I'm actively going in there, that's right track, more importantly than the individual dividend reinvestment prices that I think John is worried about. It's funny. We're now in our 32nd, almost 33rd year of business, Andy, at The Motley Fool. We've done different things for our members in this direction over time. At one point, we were trying to create the world's greatest portfolio tracker, and we started to not resource that as much as we were allocating what to do with our business because brokerage firms themselves are basically enabling most people just to track how they're doing. And so it started to make more sense for us to allow you to hook in your brokerage account if you wanted.

33:33But most people were just using Schwab or Fidelity to track. And so the Motley Fool trying to go out there and kill it for people when there wasn't that much demand, except for really hardcore users, meant we didn't really go down that alley too far. So, you know, it's interesting. It's kind of sad in some ways. I wish there were the amazing all-in-one portfolio tracker, and I sure wish it had the Motley Fool brand on it. It's not like we haven't tried over the years. And Andy, don't you think at some point this will get better and better solved? I think in some ways we serve members better today than we did 10 years ago.

34:07Well, I think that's right, David. I have seen very expensive tools out there. I think I was speaking to the Johns out there who are more interested in getting 80%, 85 % of the way there with basically free tools or through their subscription with The Motley Fool. I am aware of much more expensive tools out there. I do this in a lot more sophisticated manner. So they are out there. But for the regular investor, those out there, I think tying to the information through your brokerage statement, through a linking with a Motley Fool, or just directly through the brokerage house that you work with, and a combination of something like Google Sheets, using some downloads from your brokerage, I think can get you pretty close.

34:50Well, that was the first half of John's note. And that was our conversation. Thank you, Andy. about how we track stocks. And I know, John, you're trying to save yourself some time. You don't necessarily have to get down in the weeds as often as you might think you do. So at a high, high level, just tracking your overall portfolio and how it did this year and how the S &P 500 did this year is a pretty good start and puts you well ahead of most others. Andy and I had some other ideas in there for you as well. Andy, the second part of John's note, kind of totally different topics. Still talking about portfolios, but now we're talking about how to grow one.

35:27So let's shift there for this 40-year-old who is going on five years with Motley Fool Stock Advisor. And we want to thank you, John, for your business and for being a loyal person who stays with us in good times to bad. Andy, starting just before the pandemic and watching your stock skyrocket and then get, as mine did, crushed in 2022, this man is showing some resilience here in year five, and that's exactly what foolish investing is all about. So John goes on, and I quote, something I have no idea about is how I should think about my portfolio in terms of allocation and adding stocks. When I first started investing, I somewhat randomly chose$1 ,800 as a full position with some wiggle room as I invested Vanguard, which doesn't allow fractional shares, John goes on.

36:18So typically, anywhere from$1 ,600 to$2 ,000, I consider a full position, depending on the share price and how close I can get to that$1 ,800 figure. Now, I hear Capital F fools all the time speaking about adding a new stock at a certain percentage of their portfolio. I've heard the recommendation to buy in thirds. And now Andy comes to the last part of his note where he kind of puts it all out there. And so you as our chief investment officer. Now, we're not providing individual advice. Neither Andy nor I can be permissioned in this context to give you personalized direct advice, John, but we're going to speak broadly to somebody who is building and managing his own portfolio.

36:58So here it is, Andy. John says, I currently own 46 stocks with NVIDIA and CrowdStrike, each above 10 % of my stock portfolio. Most stocks are between 1 % and 5%. I've got a handful with as low as 0.1 % allocation. either because they are big losers, John writes. He's just started a position by buying one or two shares or because he lost conviction after starting a small entry position. So he usually dedicates$500 per month to his portfolio. John goes on, and Andy, I'm going to flag this. We want an answer from you on this one coming up. Should I be using that$500 to build up to about$1 ,800 per position?

37:42should my full position amount go up over time as my portfolio goes up that's i'm going to flag that that's number two should i take into account my pension and 403b accounts when considering my portfolio taking a three percent position in a new stock looks very different when i start adding those in i'm going to flag that for number three andy you didn't know you were going to be getting an exam at the end of this mailbag item. One more, should I think about how much I initially invest in a stock and then try to make it even across all of the stocks that I have conviction in or as my portfolio grows, should I just raise my full position amount to keep up with my portfolio?

38:24So that's number four. He points out this would have the effect of taking me longer to build a full position because I have a steady amount that's going towards stocks each month. He even throws in one at the end how do i balance adding to my winners with taking new positions without continually raising my allocation percentage in my top performing stocks any guidance would be greatly appreciated thank you for all the joy and wisdom you bring fool on john last initial k all right well this is a great note there's a lot going on in this note this podcast typically tries to stay under an hour and we're pretty good at that.

39:03So we're not going to go terribly, terribly deep here, Andy, but I've flagged four things going on there. And I'd just love to hear some of your thoughts. So the first one we talked about is, should he be allowing his trickling money, let's say$500 here,$500 there, to lump up to a number that represents a new position, $1 ,800 for him? Or should he just be investing that$500 each time as it comes in? You know, actually, David, if you don't mind, I think we kind of have to take the pension and the 403B question first. Love it. Let's do that. We're jumping to number three because you are our chief investment officer.

39:40You think about these things more organizedly than I do. So, yeah, he's asking, should he take into account his pension and 403B accounts when considering this stock portfolio, these 46 stocks that he has? Let's start there, Andy. What's your thought? So I will tell you how I think about it, David, because you can also throw in, should I add my real estate and my home and all of those things in there? And I didn't have a chance to catch up with Robert Brokamp, one of our retirement experts here. Just celebrated 26 years of foolishness. I will say, Robert, thank you so much for all the years you've brought to The Motley Fool and all your guidance and humor and fun to personal finance and retirement kindness.

40:19I will say, David, I think about it about the money that I influence and the investments I can make when I'm thinking about how I'm allocating capital from an allocation perspective. So for me, it's mostly focused on those accounts that I am investing stocks and equities into on a regular basis. Whether that is new money coming in or I'm just managing that. For example, if I have a cash account that has stocks in there, taxable account, but I'm not really adding more money into it, I count that. The stock part to my 401k that I'm investing in regularly, I count that. Any of those accounts I'm adding to my kids, I will count that when I think about my company or my household allocation strategy.

41:13The ones that are more kind of like, they're just ETFs or funds or things like that as much. Your house. My house. I don't consider that as part of my really allocating. So it's really the money that I am actively managing when I think about how I'm allocating capital at a stock by stock basis. That's good. So when John said taking a 3 % position in a new stock looks very different when you start factoring those things in, Andy, your response back is, let's talk, John, about the money that you were really actively investing. And let's size it accordingly. So now returning back, having answered number three, we're going to go back to number one.

41:57Number one, Andy, is should he let money trickle in and lump up or should he just inject every time he saves money, money into the market? Well, I like the latter approach, David. I think essentially what's considered kind of dollar cost averaging money. Again, this is how I do it. Money comes in, I'm constantly twice a month based on our paychecks here at The Motley Fool and I'm thinking, okay, that money's coming into some of my accounts and now I'm thinking about how to invest that. sometimes as actively like, you know what, I'm not going to invest this month for whatever reason. But typically, it's like I'm setting up my strategy of like, these are the ones that stocks I'm going to buy and add into based on my current allocation or my interest in new positions.

42:41Love that. And I totally agree with that. Let's go on to we have two more then and then we'll finish. What is one of our longer mailbag items in Rule Breaker Investing history? And yet, I hope it's worth going this deep. Thank you, John, for asking. Should he make that full position amount go up over time as his portfolio goes up? And Andy, I might also add, if it goes down, would he want to size down? What's your thought? Well, it's interesting this question, David, because I was just making some changes to the amount of dollars that I was investing into my kids' 529 accounts. As I made that change, I saw there was an option.

43:17Hey, do you want to increase this every year. And I said, wow, that's a great idea. Like, cause hopefully over time, as we know, the markets go up, I'm, I'm expecting hopefully that the, my account will grow not only just because adding money to it in this case of five 29, but I think, so I said, that's a good idea. I should add a little bit more, you know, maybe not every month change that amount, but maybe over the course of a year or so, if your portfolio certainly has grown now, if it has dropped if you go through a period like 2021, David, when the stocks are 2022, I should say, into 2023, when the stocks are way down, you want to be a little bit careful because of the allocation.

43:55You don't want to be over allocating to positions based on because the weight to the portfolio, if the portfolio has gone down, might be a little bit significantly different. But let's just say in general over years, I think it is a good idea to continue to Maybe just increase that dollar amount because if your portfolio has grown, the percentages, John, and this is the important point, the percentages that you're investing in a position will be impacted by the overall value of the portfolio. Again, I strongly agree, Andy. And I'd point out that John is reflecting on his five years of being an investor.

44:31So he started in his mid-30s. God bless you. Great job, John. And there you are going through the ups and downs of COVID. And you've built out a 46-stock portfolio. congratulations that is absolutely phenomenal i think what a great base to build from and he's just though andy reflecting on five years and everyone listening at home i mean some of us have been invested more like five decades and if you really think about his question in light of a longer time frame the answer becomes even more obvious absolutely you want to size up or down depending you want to size appropriately the percentage to your overall net worth or that overall where you have agency over the allocation of your net worth, as Andy was pointing out, whatever you really are allocating, you want to size that appropriately.

45:17It's going to grow over time as the markets go up. And once you look at that question from, let's say, a 25-year viewpoint, you start seeing, yeah, you're going to be investing a lot more to establish a new position than the smaller amounts you started with back in the day. You and I, Andy, are big fans of buying in thirds or incrementally dollar cost averaging into full positions. So there's no need to wait to hit that bigger number. You should just be pursuing it. I like every two weeks myself. Anything else you want to add? David, I will say, I think just as I was reflecting on some of, not just today, but just over the past few months and thinking about experiences as an investor, that not building into positions and companies that I really favored when I look back, that's probably the biggest mistake.

46:06It's not so much that I missed this or didn't get this. It's just building into positions of companies that I really believed in. So I think that memory muscle, activating that muscle is really important, John. And maybe you've been doing some of that because you have these nice positions in NVIDIA and CrowdStrike, But I think that's an important lesson for any investor, especially those who are adding money routinely into positions. It is continuing to add to winners and build those positions up over time for those businesses that you believe in. Because if they do well and you have a higher allocation, obviously your portfolio will perform better over time.

46:45Well, thank you, Andy Cross. Great thoughts, both to Joe, who at the age of 43, transitioned from sports betting to truly investing. And then from John, age 40, been with The Fool for five years now, trying to figure out what are the right ways to allocate and grow that portfolio over time. These are the kinds of questions, Andy, that you've been asked for a few decades. These will never change. You and I will do this mailbag item next year or five years from now because these are the questions so many of us have. And there really isn't a lot of coaching or background advice for people who are looking to build out their own stock market portfolios over time.

47:24Again, it's a minority of people in the world that are doing that. And we're here to serve. Thank you, Andy Cross. Yeah, David, thank you so much for having me. And you're right. It can get a little bit nervy and it can get complex just for investors who are just starting out or those of us like me who have at this for a while and still have questions about how they think about that allocation. So I really appreciate the opportunity to talk to John and Joe and other members of the Rule Breaker family because it is a great question and a great concept to really have some deeper sense and knowledge of.

47:59Fool on. All right. Two more mailbag items. It does occur to me to mention, John, that the last third of my Rule Breaker Investing book, which comes out in just a couple of weeks, is all about starting and then maintaining your portfolio. So part three, the six principles of the Rule Breaker portfolio. I hope that'll be helpful for you as well as you answer some of those nuts and bolts, day-to-day kinds of questions about running that wonderful portfolio you've started. Okay, on to mailbag item number four. This is from longtime fool Vince Granieri. Lovely note, Vince. Thank you. Hi, David. your podcast aspires to help its listeners with investments but also with life a tall order indeed let me share a few vignettes that suggest you're doing pretty well in that regard a few weeks back you mentioned that you were a history major well actually i said i was a literature major but they're all humanities vince so who's counting so i'll just correct it by saying a few weeks back you mentioned that you were a literature major and did not use traditional mathematical algorithms or spreadsheet models to analyze and value companies.

49:08Going to pause it right there just to say, I do think spreadsheets are helpful and I've certainly used them and even some math over time. There is some math I really like, but I do think most people have turned investing, if they're doing it into individual stocks and researching them into math exercises when I think they're missing so much by only using the left side of their brain. So I do think, yes, Vince, our edge as rule breakers is often that we bring both halves of the brain into our analysis. Anyway, you continue. This wasn't news to me as a longtime Fool and Rule Breaker podcast listener from the very beginning.

49:45But I know and respect a number of folks who do produce rigorous mathematical analyses to support their investing decisions and quite successfully. No surprise there, as there are many paths to being a successful investor, but recent events, Vince goes on, made me wonder if the quants of the world are a little bit more like you than advertised. You see, two of who I consider to be quant-driven investors presented their models for their recent buys. Their models and approach were different, but their process was similar. I'd become familiar with their techniques, and at first, neither stock would make the cut.

50:26Implied growth rates, terminal multiples, and discount rates suggested these stocks were way overvalued. But I was surprised to find that neither analyst discarded their stock. Instead, it was a tweak here. Let's optimize, i.e. raise the cash flow margin. or there, let's lower the discount rate and voila, Vince writes, two screaming buys. This sounds judgmental, but that's not intentional. What they did was factor in the traits of the rule breaker to provide a different perspective like you've been doing for decades. Finally, the Dean of Valuation, Oswalt de Modrin, released a 10-minute video on valuation and corporate life stages.

51:15the first point he made about valuation is that you cannot value the company properly only using spreadsheets models and numbers quote a good valuation always has a story embedded within it and quote he says fool on indeed you have one more thing to share but i'm going to pause right there just briefly to speak to this i would say it's always worth learning the math it's always worth doing the math. But a long time ago, I started figuring out it wasn't just about the math. If you try to make it just about the math, you never buy the great companies of your time. As I wonder at one point early in my book, Rule Breaker Investing, why is it that so much of the investing classics of yours, so much investment teaching, cause people who study that and listen to that to miss the best stocks of their generation.

52:12And that has been my experience watching people not buy Amazon, not buy Nvidia, not buy Netflix, and the list goes on, not buy Tesla because of what are often quant driven or mathematical reasons. So I do think it's very worthwhile for us not to just look at the math. And you're describing cases of people who purport to be valuation-driven or math-driven, and yet when it comes to their advice, all of a sudden they're kind of tossing the math aside. So one part of me totally loves that they do that, but then the other part of me wonders, do you really want to build your foundation on a mathematical foundation if you're an investment researcher, if you're not going to follow through with that?

52:54Anyway, I really love this. Close to your note, Vince, you said, let me leave you with a story about life. More specifically, my recent 50-year high school reunion. I was tasked with creating and presenting the trivia contest, which was an enjoyable job, really a treat. Did you know that Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh played at a high school dance at my school? Well, no, I didn't know that, Vince. Love it. Anyway, it was a great evening, but there was lots of concern about the times in which we live, expressed by many of the hundred or so in attendance. Before I left the podium, I had an opportunity to share what has become my favorite non-biblical quote that you have highlighted on a few episodes of the RBI podcast.

53:42It's Kevin Kelly's excellent observation that if you only listen to the news, you will think it's never been worse. But if you study history, you will realize that things have never been better. Vince closes, many of my classmates made a point to come by and tell me how much they appreciated me saying that. To use your Thomas Jefferson reference, my candle lost nothing as I lit others' candles that night and the result was a larger, warmer glow. Thanks to you, lighting my fire. David Fulon, Vince Granieri. Well, I do love that story, Vince, and I'll tell you just to, I know I'm talking probably too much about my book this week.

54:28Maybe it's because I've been waiting a year for it to come out if we're just a couple of weeks away, but maybe my favorite single chapter in my book is near the end. It's entitled Excelsior, a word that means a lot to me for those who followed me over the years. And that was one of my favorite pieces of writing I've ever done. And I hope it will stand the test of time. I hope it'll jump out out of a mere investing book, and I hope it will raise some eyebrows in the words of our friend Sam Horn. Excelsior, I think you get it, Vince, and you spread that light that night. Good on you. All right. Well, often I say, did I save the best for last?

55:09I always leave it rhetorical because I leave it in the ears of the listener. Let's go to Rule Breaker mailbag item number five. This is from longtime fellow Fool and friend of the Fool, Jum. Hi, David and Fool family. It's been a while since I last wrote in, and I hope all's well with you. This year hasn't been the easiest for me, but I'm doing my best to cope and stay grateful for what we have. One of the hardest parts of this year was saying goodbye to our beloved dog at the end of June. He was almost 18 years old and truly a member of our family. Even though we were blessed with so many years with him, letting go was absolutely heartbreaking.

55:56And I want to mention, and I'll leave it up to Jum in case she wants to share this via social media, but she sent just two beautiful pictures of her family dog. And Jum, if you feel inspired to tweet one of those out, I hope you'll share with others who might be interested to see what a beautiful creature you had as part of your family life for almost two decades. It's heartbreaking and it's beautiful. And I thank you for sharing. Now, she goes on with her note, I'm especially grateful for the work of Michael Hebb and his talking about death over dinner concept. That's something we featured before on this podcast.

56:33What a fun conversation that was. let's talk about death over dinner is the book she's referencing michael hebbe appearing a couple of times in the past on rule breaker investing if you're just hearing this for the first time and you find yourself interested in the topic i completely recommend to you new listener googling michael hebbe rule breaker investing and see what you find and learn john goes on it might sound unusual but i found that the same approach can help prepare for saying goodbye to a beloved pet. And while of course my dog couldn't take part in those conversations, my husband and I began talking about it early on over many dinners so that when the time came, we could make decisions together that honored his life.

57:17As painful as it was, we took comfort in knowing he passed peacefully in our arms and that we did right by him. I'm still grieving and far from back to normal, but I'm slowly doing better. On a lighter note, I've been catching up on RBI podcast episodes I didn't realize how much I'd missed. From Rick Engdahl's non-retirement step down as podcast producer, to the Market Cap Game Show, to the Shirzad Shamim positive intelligence interview, and more. This month's Authors in August has been a real highlight. Your conversation with Sam Horn was both inspiring and deeply informative, it prompted me to pick up her audiobook right away.

58:04I'm halfway through. Jump goes on. I have two thoughts I wanted to share. First, when I listened to the podcast, I secretly hoped she narrated her own audiobook, and she did. I love it when authors read their own work because they know exactly how they want their message to come across. Sam's narration is captivating, clear, warm, and expressive. It's a joy to listen to. Second, I have a feeling this is going to be one of the most influential, life-improving books I'll read in my lifetime. I wish I had found her work sooner. If more people applied the techniques she teaches, the world would, without question, be a better place.

58:49that said jump goes on i do think there's a kind of prerequisite to fully benefiting from talking on eggshells like the ability to pause and truly put yourself in someone else's shoes without that it's hard to see beyond yourself so my question for sam is if you could recommend three books to serve as companions or prerequisites to your own what would they be John closes out thank you for the thought, care and inspiration you bring to your audience each week in a year filled with both joy and heartbreak your work has been a steady companion something I could turn to for comfort insight and a little light on the harder days and for that and for the many ways you and the RBI community you've created touched my life I'm deeply grateful and as I write this I like to imagine my sweet old boy curled up nearby, listening in to, tail wagging at the sound of kindness and good stories.

59:53He taught me so much about love, patience, and living fully in the moment. And I carry those lessons with me every day. Forever a fool, Jum. And there's a postscript. Hello, Bart, my new producer. Welcome to the Rule Breaker Investing family. I'm confident you'll fit right in. I'll help you keep track of how many 3-2-1-GO you let David slip in. LOL. Also, David, your author in August episode featuring yourself just aired right as I'm sending this email. I can't wait to listen. You already know I'm a big fan of authors who read their own audiobooks, so thank you for that. Maybe you could also answer the same question I asked Sam in the mailbag.

1:00:38what would be three prerequisite books to read in order to fully understand benefit from your book? And that was Rule Breaker mailbag item number five. And, well, two responses for you, Jum. Thanks for reaching out, first of all, for a beautiful note. The first one comes from Sam Horn. I texted her just before sitting down to record today, and she dropped back a short note in advance to answer your question. What did she write? She said, first of all, David and John, I'm going into a consult, so this is going to be short. But first, thank you. She goes on, the answer to this will be a surprise.

1:01:16Read Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning as a reminder of the agency we have to be a good person despite what's happening around us. And second, this isn't a surprise. Read Got Your Attention. And that's Sam's book that we talked about a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, her book from 10 years ago or so, because it's about keeping it brief so people don't give us grief, which is the key to connecting these days. And you can hear Sam's sing-songy rhyming style in that line. It's about keeping it brief so people don't give us grief, which is the key to connecting these days. so those were a couple of responses that sam shared and thank you sam for being available to participate and help out on this mailbag by the way i might as well pre-announce that that conversation with sam horn was definitely one of our top podcasts of the year and is already a bestie so when we have our besties award at the end of the year i hope sam will have some time to come back on and join us and throw down more capital f foolish wisdom which by the way is not an oxymoron.

1:02:33And then to respond to your question of me, John, what are three books that I might suggest that would prepare you to better fully understand Rule Breaker Investing when it comes out in three weeks? I think the first one I would go with is Peter Lynch's wonderful book, One Up on Wall Street. Many hearing me right now will have already read it. It is a true generational classic, and it's one that was so inspirational for me in my mid-20s when I first sat down to read it. And I certainly feel like I'm in the Lynchian tradition and speaking to Lynch some of the time throughout Rule Breaker investing.

1:03:08And so I would have to start with one up on Wall Street. Second, I think I'm, like Sam, going to recommend one of my own here, Rule Breakers, Rule Makers. That was the first time I wrote about the six traits of Rule Breaker stocks. It came out, wow, more than a generation ago. I always count generations as 25 years. that book came out 26 years ago i wrote it 27 years ago but it really was the first articulation of rule breaking and in some ways i go a little bit deeper in places on picking stocks in that book than even i do in this upcoming book this upcoming book is doing more than just what i was doing back then and rule breakers rule makers that 1999 motley fool book i wrote the first half rule breakers my brother tom wrote the second half rule makers well i only wrote half a book back then talking about Rule Breakers, but it definitely sets up in a lot of ways this book.

1:03:59And finally, the third book is one I've never read myself, but I still think it could be helpful for anybody who's serious about reading books in advance of other books to make those books make more sense. I think, by the way, very few people actually do that. But since you asked, Jim, Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel, a book that is much admired and certainly set the tone for a lot of what Vanguard has done over the years very successfully. indexing and all the rest. But the core message of that book runs so counter to what I believe or what I have done on this earth and what my book advocates.

1:04:34It can be very interesting maybe to see the yang to my yin because Malkiel, who is an academic, advocates that you really can't beat the stock market in any dependable way. It would just be luck to do so. It's just random. You're taking a random walk down Wall Street. It is its own generational classic. It set the tone for a lot of other people. I obviously respect it and I greatly disagree with it. I think it makes sense. It can make sense for people who don't ever want to bother learning about investing, probably people who are not listening to this podcast, but I would never want that book to dissuade people from searching for, buying and adding to the great companies of our time, the rule breakers.

1:05:16My life has been so greatly enriched because I do not believe it's a random walk down Wall Street. So I hope that's a fun answer for you as well. I don't think Sam Horn or I is requiring anybody to read other books before reading our book. The truth is, for me anyway, Rule Breaker Investing, I sort of wrote it to be the book that ends all books for me. It's my final stock market book. It should stand on its own without, I think, needing other things to precede it. I hope you love it. Thank you for writing in and cheers on your 2025 jump and cheers to you, dear listener, for joining with me and Andy Cross and many others for this August 2025 Rule Breaker Investing Mailbag.

1:05:59It was a lot of fun. Authors in August every year provides a wonderful platform for a mailbag like this one. I look forward next week to joining in with you to kick off our 10 years later episodic series, looking back at how those five stocks for the next five years are doing 10 years later. Fool on. As always, people on this program may have interest in the stocks they talk about, and The Motley Fool may have formal recommendations for or against. So don't buy or sell stocks based solely on what you hear. Learn more about Rule Breaker Investing at rbi.fool.com. You