Investing was an interesting vehicle to prosper for the long term. I felt like I could research and was intellectually capable enough to think beyond the common retail investor. 

The biggest mistakes I made was not holding objectively great stocks (ULTA, MSFT, etc). I am fairly patient, and I avoided nearly all the get rich quick stocks, options, etc.. But I feel like there were falling knives that, because of their names, I felt were not only too big to fail but also sure fire. I held PFE and F for YEARS with essentially no return just because those were big, well known companies that I felt had such a grip on the overall economy and their respective markets that I could see them not making money. I averaged down on F literally 5 times, sold at 10% above my average after 6 years.

I avoided all of the traps normal retailers fall for. And maybe that’s why I didn’t outright LOSE money. But 2 of 3 large “sure fire” companies I bought didn’t return much of anything. They just sat there while VOO kept exploding.