Dividends (Aristocrats) And 'Never Sell': The False Gods We Worship

Any idea taken to an extreme can bring dangerous consequences. Ideas can quickly become principles of conduct that govern our life choices. The blockbuster hit " Inception" from 2010 drives home that point. Mal, the wife of Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Dominic Cobb, was driven to suicide because she could not shake the idea that she was living in a dream, and the only way to wake up and return to reality with her children was to kill herself while in the dream.
*from quotesgram.com
While I am not suggesting that anyone is going to die from any investing ideas or principles, choosing to follow overly rigid ideas or principles could mean financial ruin at worst or underperformance at best.
As I have dedicated prodigious amounts of time to the study of securities markets, and especially as I have begun writing on SeekingAlpha, I have noticed certain ideas that have indeed taken root in many people's minds and have come to define their investment strategy. These ideas have achieved God status, commandment level, the violation of which is condemned. My intent today is to discuss why these principles, when taken to extremes, can have demonstrable negative consequences for investor portfolios.
A disclaimer that I need to get out of the way... I recognize that people have a variety of reasons for investing. People also have different investing goals. For some it is capital preservation. For some it is income. My comments today pertain mostly to those... Read more