We have heard a lot about David Dardashti, an entrepreneur who has worked in the financial district of Chicago for two decades. He is an immigrant, leaving his home in Iran as a young boy with his family, fleeing racist persecution. We caught up with David in his Chicago office to hear his story and his tips for investing in the stock market. While he is most known for his work in finance and real estate investing, David is yet to come out publicly with his investing strategy, as he believes it is a crucial part to any individual’s portfolio. We hear his tips today.
A little background on David; he fled racist persecution and moved to Chicago, leaving almost everything behind. After working hard in middle and high school in America, he gained admission to UC Berkeley, a top public school in the country. David graduated in 1998 with a bachelor’s in economics, dreaming of working in the financial district of Chicago. That is what he has done ever since, advising clients and building his own portfolio through real estate and stocks along the way.
We asked David what were his tips for optimal returns in the market and his answer was quite informative and interesting. He does not believe in shooting for insanely high returns and taking too much risk, instead David advises clients and anyone who asks to simply automate their investing into low cost index funds and slowly build wealth over time. These funds might have day to day fluctuations but are almost guaranteed to increase in value over the long term. In addition, if you have the time to research good companies, David believes people could put around half their portfolio invested across individual stocks. He tells us people should only invest in reliable companies that they understand and have a high chance of success in the future. Companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Walmart, Visa, Qualcomm. All stocks that are household names and will thrive in future years.
Another important aspect to David’s investment strategy is dollar cost averaging and buying more when the markets are down. When you automate your investing, you buy stocks and funds all at different prices so the corrections in the market should smoothen out your long term return should slowly go up. When markets are down, David highly advises against panic selling and instead tells clients to invest more into their stocks. You are getting the same good companies but at a discount, why wouldn’t you buy more at a cheaper price? This will amplify your returns when the market eventually recovers.
We lastly asked David the million dollar question: where stocks are going soon. He told us while he can’t predict that, he tells us that over the long term, stocks will go up and he will continue to buy no matter what happens in the market. It is important to stay invested in stocks and keep riding the market, and your wealth will grow with the market as well.
Follow David on twitter@DavidDardashti_:
Also Check:
David Dardashti – Real Estate Investing and Lessons From UC Berkeley
Andrea Parker is a reporter for Zobuz. She previously worked at Huffington Post and Vanity Fair. Andrea is based in NYC and covers issues affecting her city. In addition to her severe coffee addiction, she’s a Netflix enthusiast, a red wine drinker, and a voracious reader.
