Several misconceptions in this articles, quite typical ones actually:<p>1) "I can’t imagine what led all of us to believe that we could regularly expect double-digit annual returns on our money, for doing no work"<p>You did work. You worked, exchanged your product for money, and saved it. But other people did work too. So you took your money, in effect lowered the capital cost of other people's enterprises (unless you bought in the primary market), and in return have a chance of participating in their venture's success (if). Those who are more discerning in their allocations earn higher average returns on their capital. It's not alchemy, it's capitalism! Whether the assets are fairly valued or not is a totally different question.<p>2) " Let’s say you own a Procter & Gamble in your portfolio and the stock price goes down by half. Do you like it better? [...] If you don’t, you’re not an investor, you’re a speculator"<p>Quoted like this, wrong! THe crucial condition is that you did an independent valuation of the asset and came up with a higher value. The price itself doesn't tell you anything other than what other people think or feel.<p>3) "An out-of-print guide to value investing, it sells for as much as $2,500 per copy on the Web."<p>Just for the record, these are collector's editions. If anyone is simply interested in the material (which is not all that original, btw) it floats as free PDF, just google it.<p>In general, I find it fascinating that people like to think that there is someone out there with their best interests at heart. Where does this come from? Where is their independence and responsibility? Balthasar Gracian, a Jesuit priest from the 18th (?) century, put it thus: You don't count on the kindness or gratitude of people but on their self-interest.