Took a bath on tech stocks during the Great Boom. No company I've ever owned founder's stock in went anywhere.

Any individual investment or stock I buy, with few exceptions (like Apple) dies screaming. The financial equivalent of a black thumb. If I bought gold tomorrow, it would be thirty dollars an ounce within six months.

So, I'm a mutual fund guy. Spread thinly across a wide range of stocks. Best solution for long-term growth, IMO. If you give up assuming you're going to hit it big in the market, you'll probably do all right.

A well-run portfolio also has a mix of other things, like bonds and such. The exact mix depends a lot on how old you are and how long you're going to be holding the investments.