Lexington, KY - Debunkery" is a comberation - a word combination made up by financial expert and advisor Ken Fisher to mean "myth debunking with a twist." This approach is what makes his latest bestseller, written with Lara Hoffmans, Debunk-ery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It - Seeing Through Wall Street's Money-Killing Myths such an intriguing read on investment.
The twist is that "it's a game, of sorts," Fisher says. Games are part of the learning process - and most people need to learn more about investing.
When it comes to capital markets and money, it should be, well, fun. This fun entails uncovering untruths, misperceptions and myths about investing - in other words, the process of debunkery.
Debunkery is not a strategy for investing - the author has already written several bestsellers on successful approaches. It is a book about "improving your odds and making fewer mistakes," he notes. If you want to become a successful investor, this can be achieved largely by just avoiding common errors.
The reality is that investing is not an exact science; all investors make mistakes. The best investors, Fisher notes, have made lots and lots of them. The reasons for investment mistakes vary; humans are intuitive, while markets are often counterintuitive. People are blinded by bias or ideology, and sometimes, things simply change.
But, there are ways to avoid some investment misperceptions. By debunking some of the more major ones, the author hopes the reader can then go on to debunk more. If you recognize that some of the common beliefs on investing are often untrue and that you will make mistakes, you can improve your results by debunkery.
To sign up for Debunkery 101, here's a partial study guide: