In actuality, while the
skill set necessary to make intelligent decisions can take years to acquire, the core matter is straightforward: Buy ownership of good businesses (stocks) or loan money to good credits (bonds), paying a price
sufficient to reasonably assure you of a satisfactory return even if things don't work out particularly well (a margin of
safety), and then give yourself a long enough stretch of time (at an absolute minimum, five years) to ride out the volatility.