Will Graham Make You Rich ?

Few investors--except in old age--will get rich adhering strictly to Graham's investment philosophy.

His conservative, diversified approach for most practitioners is likely to yield investment results only a little better than average. His aim is to assist investors to obtain good value for their money, not to make them rich quick.

Graham believed that this is the only legitimate function for an investment advisor. Most investors would do well to achieve such results because professional investors on average do not fare so well.

Still, it would be good to remember Graham`s caution that : "(A)ny approach to moneymaking in the stock market which can be easily described and followed by a lot of people is by its terms too simple and too easy to last. Spinoza`s concluding remark applies to Wall Street as well as to philosophy: "All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare."

Ben Graham offers a keen insight into moneymaking and a wise philosophy. The investment principles he enunciated are timeless. The seeker of investment truth will discover in the old sage a gold mine of wisdom, one who creditably promises a "fattening of the pocketbook", and a fine companion as well. We would do well before we make our next commitment to think his motto, MARGIN OF SAFETY.