Welcome to our insightful conversation with author Richard Rodman, a man who has had a fruitful career the realm of wealth creation and financial wisdom. With over five decades dedicated to the complexities of finance, Rodman disrupts the notion that financial success is enigmatic. He is also renowned for empowering business owners, professionals, and corporate giants like AT&T, Johnson & Johnson, and Google.
Rodman’s latest endeavor, Lessons for Long-Term Investors, is meant for anyone who is seeking financial enlightenment. This book, a distillation of his profound insights amassed over half a century, isn’t just a guide—it’s a wealth creation formula. With a focus on managing emotions, seizing opportunities amid market turmoil, and offering a fresh perspective on financial markets, Rodman’s book stands as a testament to accessible, long-term investing practices. In this interview with Richard Rodman, we’ll be getting a taste of what you can learn from his book, Lessons for Long-Term Investors.
What are some key advantages that investors can expect to gain from adopting a long-term approach?
The advantages of long-term investing speak for themselves. The biggest one is that investors can be confident in the fact that they don’t need to constantly be right in their trades. The long-term, if correctly researched and thought through, lead to better results. The advantages of long-term investing are that one can better manage money on one’s own knowing they have a very long history of financial markets, they can lean on when times are difficult and not be emotionally swayed by both good and bad news.
What foundational financial concepts do you believe everyone should understand? How can individuals build a strong base of financial literacy?
Financial literacy is easy to attain. The information needed to be financially literate is all around
us. Hopefully one can start with my book Lessons for Long-Term Investors.
Could you share one or two compelling stories that illustrate the power of long-term investing in action?
One would be Warren Buffet. He has successfully used compound interest over time which has
enhanced his performance over time. His record speaks for itself.
The concept of an emergency fund is frequently discussed in personal finance. What advice do you have for establishing and maintaining an adequate emergency fund?
I would have about six months of emergency funds but to each his or her own. Whatever you feel comfortable with. Just don’t make it too much or you will be cheating yourself in the long run as investing should prove to be the more profitable over saving.
Sustainable investing and ESG considerations are increasingly important to many investors. How does your book explore the integration of environmental, social, and governance factors into long-term investment decisions?
My book does not address this subject as it is a personal value judgement. However, it has been
shown in some studies that ESG investing does produce enhanced results at times if all other
things are equal.
For someone who is new to investing, what are the fundamental concepts they need to grasp before they start building their investment portfolio?
Know yourself. How much risk tolerance do you have? What are your goals and objectives? Do you have a plan to reach them?
Throughout your book, you share practical strategies for selecting investments with long-term potential. Could you give us a sneak peek into some of the criteria or methodologies you suggest readers use for making such decisions?
This depends on how you are investing, whether it be in individual stocks, mutual funds, or exchange traded funds. Each is evaluated differently, and each investor has to figure that out and be content with their conclusions. That said, traditional fundamental and technical analysis is the foundation. I encourage each investor to be well versed in both before investing.
Asset allocation is a critical aspect of investment strategy. Could you explain the importance of diversifying investments across different asset classes?
Diversification is the only free lunch in investing. The first consideration is Asset Class diversification such as the breakdown between stocks, bonds, cash and CD’s, real estate, gold, and alternative investments such as art or collectibles. Secondarily, there is also diversification between large companies, mid-sized companies and small companies as well as between sectors of the economy such as technology, communications, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, industrials, materials, health care, etc.
Financial literacy is essential for successful long-term investing. How do you address the importance of educating oneself about investment principles and concepts in your book?
It is extremely important. As mentioned, Fundamental Analysis and Technical Analysis need to be learned to a considerable degree before investing. There are many great books on each subject.
How do you convey the power of compounding to someone who is just starting to invest? What role does the length of their investment horizon play?
Get a hold of a compound interest table and it will answer all questions. Einstein was once asked what the greatest invention of mankind was. He answered, “compound interest”. Warren Buffet learned this many years ago.
For readers who are new to investing, what foundational knowledge or key concepts do you ensure are covered in your book to help them build a strong understanding of long- term investment principles?
The key concepts are to know yourself first. What are your goals and objectives? How much time do you have to devote to your investments? If it is not a lot for example, maybe most of your portfolio should be in mutual funds or exchange traded funds rather than individual stocks which take more time.
Tax implications can significantly affect investment outcomes. What strategies do you advise for making investments tax-efficient?
I am not a big proponent of having tax planning get in the way of returns. The exceptions are around the margins. An example would be if you had a position that should be sold, but you could wait a small period of time to take advantage of long-term capital gains treatment (a holding period of over one year) to get a lower tax rate on the sale.
If you could offer one piece of advice to someone who is just starting their journey in personal finance and investing, what would it be?
It would be to START NOW and/or to START CHANGING over the path you have chosen if you feel it could be improved after reading the book.
Finally, what do you hope readers will take away from Lessons for Long Term Investors? Are there any overarching messages or actionable steps that you encourage them to implement in their investment journeys?
Yes, Start Now in investing or Start Changing how you do things now, hopefully using a lot of
the concepts mentioned in the book. May you all experience a successful journey. The idea of course is to have your money work as hard for you as you did for it.
Find the Author
About the Author
Richard Rodman, CFS, has spent over fifty years debunking the myth that creating wealth and dealing with financial matters is difficult to understand. As a result, he has devoted his career to helping 
business owners, professionals, and top executives at companies such as AT&T, Supermarkets General, Johnson & Johnson, McGraw Hill, Cisco Systems and Google realize their wealth creating potential.
He is the author of the best-selling book, The 17 Laws of Successful Investing. In addition, his articles have appeared in PTA Today and Human Resource Professional magazines and he has written over 180 newsletters on the financial markets.
Mr. Rodman has also lectured on financial independence at many corporate venues with his seminar entitled “How to Create and Manage Wealth”. He is also devoted to financial education for younger generations and has established the Stock Market Competition Program for local Boys and Girls Clubs. He’s received a BS in Finance at Rider College where he was the recipient of the coveted Wall Street Journal Achievement Award.
He lives in New Jersey and Florida and enjoys family, golf, and travel.
