📖John Templeton

Protect Against Inflation

🌿 Intermediate★★★★☆

Focus on real returns after inflation and taxes.

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For all long-term investors, there is only one objective: maximum real total return after taxes. Never forget the erosion of inflation.

— Templeton's Way with Money,2012

🏠 Everyday Analogy

Long-term investing is like planting trees. Early progress looks slow, but compounding happens underground before it becomes visible.

📖 Core Interpretation

John Templeton frames investing as a compounding game. Time amplifies quality and discipline, while unnecessary activity often destroys long-horizon returns.
💎 Key Insight:Real returns matter more than nominal returns.

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❓ Why It Matters

Short-term noise often forces investors out before value is realized. Long-term discipline increases the odds that fundamentals, not emotions, drive outcomes.

🎯 How to Practice

Extend research and review horizon, reduce unnecessary turnover, and adjust only when intrinsic value, risk, or opportunity cost materially changes.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls

Calling it long term while never reviewing thesis
Overtrading and damaging compounding
Ignoring opportunity cost and alternatives

📚 Case Studies

1
Postwar Japan Recovery (1949)
Templeton bought deeply depressed Japanese stocks amid post-WWII devastation, when many investors avoided the market due to political and economic uncertainty.
✨ Outcome:Massive multi-decade gains as Japan industrialized and export growth surged, validating global value investing beyond the U.S.
2
Early Investment in South Korea (1962)
Templeton invested in obscure South Korean companies when the country was poor, politically unstable, and largely ignored by foreign investors.
✨ Outcome:Substantial returns as South Korea transformed into an export-driven Asian tiger, reinforcing his case for broad global diversification.

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