What it means to 'just keep buying' in Korea
Reviewer's note
Before reading this book
Prologue_ The Magic Spell That Will Make You Rich

Part 1 Savings

Chapter 1: Where to Start
: Poor people save, rich people invest.

Chapter 2: How Much Should I Save?
: It will be less than you think

Chapter 3 If you want to save more money
: The Biggest Lie About Investment

Chapter 4: How to Spend Money Without Guilt
: Double the Rule and Maximize Achievement

Chapter 5: How Long Is Lifestyle Creep Okay?
: Why it's okay to have more than you think

Chapter 6: Is it okay to go into debt?
: Credit cards aren't always a bad choice.

Chapter 7: Should I Rent or Buy?
: How to Make the Biggest Financial Decision of Your Life

Chapter 8: Some Ways to Raise Money
: Why time horizon is more important than anything else

Chapter 9: When Can I Retire?
: Surprisingly, money is not the most important factor.

Part 2 Investment

Chapter 10: Why Invest?
: Three reasons why making money is more important than ever

Chapter 11
What should I invest in?
: There is not just one way to become wealthy.

Chapter 12: Why You Shouldn't Invest in Individual Stocks
: The returns from stock picking are bound to be low.

Chapter 13: How Soon Should You Start Investing?
: Why Fast is Better Than Slow

Chapter 14: Why You Don't Need to Wait for a Buy-By-Buy Timing
: It does not produce higher returns than the average unit price installment purchase method.

Chapter 15: Why Luck Matters in Investing
: Also, why isn't luck important in investing?

Chapter 16: Investors Don't Need to Fear Volatility
: The price paid for successful investing

Chapter 17: How to Keep Buying Even in a Crisis
: When there is blood on the streets, it is time to buy.

Chapter 18: So, when is the best time to sell?
: Three Cases When You Should Sell an Asset

Chapter 19: Where is your money?
: How to Choose the Best Investment Account for You

Chapter 20: Why Rich People Don't Feel Rich
: Maybe you are already rich

Chapter 21: The Most Important Asset is Time
: How to utilize the asset called time

Epilogue_ How to Win the Time Traveler's Game
Acknowledgements
References

At a time of intense market volatility,
This book is a true savior!
-Alex Charakian, Founder and CEO of Lake Avenue-

★★★★★
Park Se-ik, Oh Geon-yeong, Kang Hwan-guk, Park Seong-jin, and Mok Dae-gyun
Recommendations from Korea's top investment mentors

#1 Amazon Bestseller
BookAuthority's #1 Best Finance Book of 2022
High praise from James Clear and Morgan Housel
Praise from the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, and the Los Angeles Times

■ “I am a person who believes in the power of diversification.”
The experience and philosophy of an investor who has been practicing "Just Keep Buying" in Korea for 22 years, as featured in this special edition.

Just Keep Buying, which has sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the United States alone and has become a steady seller in Korea, where many financiers and investors have cited it as the "best book of their lives," has been republished in a special expanded edition.
This special edition includes the real-life "Just Keep Buying" story of Lee Sang-geon, CEO of Mirae Asset Pension & Investment Center, who has been practicing lump-sum investing without missing a single month for the past 22 years, with the permission of author Nick Maguly.
The title is “Just Keep Buying in Korea: A 22-Year Accumulation Investor’s Praise for Accumulation.”
This book contains the long-term experience and philosophy of CEO Lee Sang-geon, who has made a fortune through installment savings, secured funds for a home purchase, and prepared for retirement through installment savings since a time when the term "installment savings" was unfamiliar.


CEO Lee Sang-geon said, “I don’t think we should abandon the director because the manager is good, and I don’t think we should abandon the highly rated director because the manager is undervalued.
Since we cannot make an accurate prediction, we divide it appropriately and invest in the beauty salon and the national hospital.
Just adjust the specific gravity.
There is no strict distinction between index funds and active funds.
Research showing that 90 percent of active funds underperform the index, particularly the S&P 500, is now accepted as established fact.
But if you have the ability to choose good funds, there's no reason to stick to index funds.
“So, my portfolio includes index funds, active funds, and individual stocks,” he says.


And he tells them to keep numbers like 10, 20, 30, and 50 in their heads.
“Based on the U.S. market, the stock market historically records -10% once every two years, -20-30% every four to five years, and -50% once every 50 years.
If the stock market falls by 10 percent, the newspaper headlines the stock market crash.
If 20-30 is missed, the stock market will be covered as the front story on the 9 o'clock news.
If it drops 50 percent, that's panic itself.
This will be a time of tremendous opportunity for some, and a time of great suffering for others.
A 10 percent drop is common in the stock market, so just sit tight.
A 20-30 percent decline is a golden opportunity for investors who invest in stocks at low prices.
“If it drops 50 percent, if you're a prepared investor, you have a chance to make a lot of money, and if you're a savvy investor, you can literally buy the dip, or buy at the bottom.”

Furthermore, based on my 22 years of investing, I believe the most important thing is patience, and I emphasize that you should not leave the market under any circumstances and continue to invest.
In this way, CEO Lee Sang-geon generously shares his extensive experience and philosophy, imparting the wisdom of a pioneer to those struggling to "just keep buying" in Korea.
It's full of meaningful advice on how Korean investors, who are often faced with the dilemma of whether to buy a stock or a director, a fund or an ETF, can wisely "just keep buying."


■ “No matter what books I read, my anxiety about money never went away.”
Why Data Scientist Nick Magiuly Wrote This Book

“Wait for the right time to buy at a low price.” “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” “Buy on your knees and sell on your shoulders.” And so on.
The world of investing is full of colorful words and wise sayings.
But Nick Magiuly, a data scientist and wealth management expert, says this long-held message isn't always true, nor does it apply to everyone or in every situation.


Nick Maguly admits that he once faithfully followed this maxim, reading many books and reports.
His parents were not rich, and he didn't even know what stocks were until he entered college. He was anxious every day, worried about how to make a living.
Nick suffered from a neurosis about money, reading everything he could about money and investing and trying to put it into practice, but his fear of the future never went away.


Then, while analyzing the stock market as a data scientist, he had a surprising realization.
And I compiled that realization into a book.
“The reason I wrote Just Keep Buying is simple.
After analyzing nearly 100 years of stock market data, we concluded that the safest and most certain way to make money is through 'Just Keep Buying.'
“It was all about continuing to buy income-generating assets.”

■ “Just, keep, buy!”
The path to financial freedom lies in these three words.

So, which income-generating assets should you continue to buy? In "Wealth, War, and Wisdom," Barton Biggs analyzed which income-generating assets have been most effective at preserving asset value over hundreds of years and concluded, "Considering liquidity, stocks are the optimal place to hold your assets."
Nick Magiuly said, “There’s no guarantee that the global stock market bull market of the 20th century will continue in the future, but I’d bet on it continuing,” adding, “If I had to pick just one income-generating asset, it would be stocks without hesitation.”


It didn't matter which stocks I bought or when.
The important thing was to just keep buying, buying, and living.
There was no need to analyze corporate value or determine whether it was a bull or bear market.
As if it were a habit, the only thing that mattered was to ‘keep living’ frequently.
This is also known as Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA).
Comparing returns over 40 years, starting in 1975, the average-price installment method outperformed buy-the-dip from start to finish! When considering returns, it was clear that the path to wealth lay in these three words: "Just Keep Buying."


■ Data says, “Returns are highest after a market crash!”
A new perspective and attitude toward stocks and investing

Nick Magiuly's proposals are based on rigorous data and evidence rather than personal beliefs or speculation.
As a result, there are some guidelines that run counter to the advice we often hear, such as the following:


Why you should save less than you think
· Why you shouldn't buy individual stocks
Why a large correction is a good buying opportunity
· Reasons why it is not advisable to hold cash to catch the timing of low-price purchases, etc.

Nick uses data to convince readers of these "unexpected tips."
For example, they present 100 years of data analysis on why 'large-scale corrections are good buying opportunities.'
The future annual return on investment during the period of declines of more than 50 percent between 1920 and 2020 was a whopping 25 percent!

So why shouldn't you buy individual stocks? A study of the U.S. stock market from 1926 to 2016 found that only 4 percent of stocks outperformed Treasury bonds.
Five companies created 10 percent of the total wealth.
The five companies were ExxonMobil, Apple, Microsoft, General Electric, and IBM.
Nick asks his readers:
“Are you confident that you can pick one of the 4 percent of stocks and not pick one of the 96 percent?”
Nick recommends that if you don't have the confidence to do so, don't buy individual stocks, and instead actively use index funds.


■ “Even God cannot beat the returns of long-term, lump-sum investment!”
Here's why we just have to keep buying.

Lee Sang-geon, CEO of Mirae Asset Investment & Pension Center, who reviewed this book, said, “I regret realizing too late that income-generating assets like stocks are not meant to be bought and sold, but rather ‘buyed and accumulated.’”
The point is that if Nick Magiuly's argument had been put into practice 20 years ago, things would be very different now.
Over the past 20 years, there have been countless events, including the foreign exchange crisis, the credit card liquidity crisis, the internet bubble, the Iraq War, the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, stocks have continued to rise over the long term.
If a person had quietly worked hard and accumulated S&P 500 index funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds), or had consistently invested a fixed amount every month, he or she would probably have significant assets now.
Perhaps the path for ordinary people like us to become rich was this simple and straightforward.


'Just keep buying' is the easiest and most active way to accumulate wealth.
All you have to do is watch the little snowball roll down the hill and turn into a big snowball all by itself.
All you need is a long-term perspective, a disciplined approach, and the habit of consistently investing your money.
Just Keep Buying.
I believe that if we simply put these three simple words into practice, anyone can enter the path to becoming a happy and wealthy person.


******The Just Keep Buying's rules
- 21 Principles to Guide You to Financial Freedom -

1.
Poor people save, rich people invest.
Is now the time to save or invest? If your expected savings exceed your expected investment returns, focus on saving. If not, focus on investing.
If both are similar, it is better to focus on both.

2.
Saving is just doing as much as you can.

Unless you inherited wealth, for any rich person, everything starts with saving money to make a lump sum.
But could it be that excessive anxiety about the future is driving you to increase your savings rate, preventing you from making wise decisions about savings and investments? To address this, the advice is to save only as much as you can.
Not overdoing it is the key to surviving the long and arduous journey of investing.

3.
Focus on increasing your income, not reducing your spending.
The debate over whether to cut spending or increase income to make money is never-ending.
Let me be clear.
Focus on increasing your income.
There are limits to reducing spending, but there are no limits to increasing income.
Remember that Jerry Richardson, an American football player, became the richest football player in American history through business ownership, not through his labor (football).

4.
To eliminate consumer guilt, it's a good idea to use the "2x rule."
If you feel guilty about spending even though you have enough money in your account, it's time to use the "2x rule."
It is not always best to save money unconditionally.
Ultimately, money should be used as a 'tool' to live the life you want.
The double rule is a consumption technique that can be used meaningfully in that context.

5.
If you have an 'increase' in your income, save at least 50 percent of it.
Lifestyle creep isn't necessarily a bad thing.
'To some extent' is okay.
If you can't enjoy the fruits of your labor, there's no reason to keep working hard.
So how much of your increased income should you save? Save at least 50 percent of your increase.
This is advice that applies to almost everyone in almost any situation.

6.
Debt isn't a good or bad thing, it just depends on how you use it.
There is no right or wrong in debt itself.
Depending on your investment scenario, debt can be either harmful or beneficial.
The key is to use it wisely and only when it helps your personal finances.

7.
When the time comes, you have to buy a house.

Many people ask:
"Should I buy a home, or should I invest the money?" Buying a home is a difficult decision that significantly impacts our lives.
Still, for whatever reason, you need to buy a house.
It's just a matter of timing.

8.
If your time horizon is less than two years, use cash savings. If it is more than two years, use stock and bond investments.
If you need a large sum of money for a wedding or home purchase within the next two years, setting a short-term goal and saving cash is the best way to accumulate a large sum of money.
On the other hand, if the time horizon is longer, the choices are different.
It is better to consider options such as bonds or stocks that can offset the loss of purchasing power due to inflation.

9.
The most important thing in retirement isn't money.

Many people have vague fears about retirement.
The first reason most people cite for fear is 'money'.
But what actually drives them into a corner is not money, but 'identity'.
Before deciding to retire, you should have a clear idea of ​​what kind of life you want to lead and a clear plan for it.

10.
Invest in converting human capital into financial assets.
It is not possible to receive labor income until death.
Replace human capital with financial assets before it's too late.
Build financial assets that will add money to your bank account even when you are not working.
There is probably no stronger motivation to invest than this.

11.
Prepare income-generating assets with the concept of ownership where you become the owner yourself.

Find an investment method that suits you.
Few people truly understand the significance of this seemingly simple and obvious statement.
Finding the right income-generating asset for you.
To do so, I hope you will first consider all the methods offered in the world of investment.
Among these, income-generating assets that can have a concept of ownership can be expected to yield the greatest returns when successful.

12.
Do not buy individual stocks.

From 1926 to 2016, stocks outperformed Treasury bonds in the United States thanks to the returns of just 4 percent of stocks.
So, are you confident you'll pick one of the top 4% of stocks and not pick one of the top 96%? There's so much luck involved in individual stock investing.
Why bother jumping into this game and getting impatient? Buying individual stocks and hoping for good results is perhaps like playing a coin-flipping game.


13.
Buy fast, sell slow.
Most markets tend to rise over the long term.
Therefore, buying fast and selling slow is the optimal way to maximize wealth.

14.
Invest as soon as possible, and invest often.
Are you still thinking about saving cash and waiting for the right time to enter the market? If so, I urge you to reconsider your thinking.
Even God cannot make a better profit than the average unit price split purchase method.


15.
Investing is not about what cards you have in your hand, but what game you play with them.
It's true that luck is important in investing.
But 'nevertheless' we can control our future.
Of course, to some extent.
Anyway, these conditions are the same for everyone.
We have a variety of cards to choose from and play when it comes to how much to save and where to invest, and how to adjust our portfolios to respond to crises.
Ultimately, the outcome comes down to how you play the game with those cards.

16.
Volatility is inevitable, don't be afraid.
The twists and turns are bound to come.
It's just a question of 'when'.
Accept it.
No one can avoid volatility.
Charles Munger once said:
“About two or three times a century, the market falls by more than 50 percent.
“Anyone who loses their composure in times like these is not suitable for stock investment, and even if they receive poor results, they will have nothing to say.”

17.
A market crash is a buying opportunity.
The highest returns are obtained after a severe market crash.
When these crashes occur periodically, don't be afraid and take advantage of the opportunity.
The data tells us that if you have the funds, you should make the most of these buying opportunities.

18.
There are only three cases in which you may sell an asset:
I've said it over and over again.
Just keep going.
But there are times when you have to sell.
However, selling assets is justified only in three cases:
For portfolio rebalancing.
To get out of a losing position.
And to live the life you want.
Let's not forget one important fact here.
The purpose of making money is not to become rich.
To live the life you want.
Nothing can precede this proposition.

19.
What you buy is important, but where you put it is also important.
People who have recently invested often judge their investment performance by looking at numbers or return graphs in Excel files.
But anyone with long-term investment experience will know that's not all.
What matters is the actual after-tax profit you get.
This is why it is important to know which account you keep your money in.


20.
You may already be rich.

Billionaire Lloyd Blankfein once said:
“I am not rich.
“I’m just living well.” It’s a shocking story, but I’m sure he’s being sincere.
This is because the concept of wealth is relative.
There is no such thing as absolute rich or absolute poor.
Remember that it is far more important to stick to your life purpose, investment philosophy, and investment principles.

21.
Time is your most important asset.
Time is our most important asset.
It has been so until now and will be so in the future.
How you spend your time in your 20s, 30s, and 40s will make a big difference in your 50s, 60s, and 70s.
Unfortunately, it takes a considerable amount of time to learn this lesson.