Amid cries of “Trusted Samsung Electronics and went bust,” John Lee says, “You invested for a year and call that long-term investing? That’s gambling.”

[Financial News] As domestic and overseas stock markets continued an unprecedented rout and despair among individual investors reached a peak, with their accounts being cut in half, John Lee, head of John Lee’s School for the Rich and a former CEO of Meritz Asset Management, delivered a pointed message to shaken retail investors. He is regarded as an advocate of value and long-term investing.

John Lee strongly urged investors to return to the basic principles of long-term investing, saying, “Reacting emotionally to price fluctuations over one or two years is gambling, not investing.”
According to the Korea Exchange (KRX), the KOSPI plunged more than 8% immediately after the market opened on the 6th, triggering a Level 1 circuit breaker and suffering the unprecedented shock of falling below the 5,000 mark. The losses deepened just one day after the KOSPI (-5.28%) and KOSDAQ (-5.11%) plunged together the previous day, triggering a sell-sidecar. A wave of foreign selling amid concerns over a change of administration in the United States and regulation sent even leading domestic blue-chip semiconductor stocks, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, tumbling.
Amid the market panic, the host of the YouTube financial channel Y Street recently went to see John Lee in person and conveyed the voices of retail investors pushed to the brink: “I believed in long-term investing and bought blue-chip stocks, but my account is down by half. How should we view this situation?”
In the face of mounting complaints, John Lee remained firm. He first corrected the public’s understanding of how long “long-term investing” should mean.
John Lee said, “The essence of stock investing is building retirement savings for life after work, 10 to 20 years down the road.” He pointed out that “feeling anxious because your money is melting away after investing for just six months or a year or so means your very sense of time is distorted.” He added, “I told people to invest money they could spare, but they’re borrowing to use leverage and staring only at charts and price movements instead of company value,” strongly criticizing an approach swayed by short-term gains and losses.

He also sharply criticized “market timing”—trying to pinpoint when to trade—and copycat trading based on foreign investors’ buying and selling.
John Lee said, “Advice to increase your cash holdings because prices might fall further and then buy back at the bottom is telling people to do something beyond human capability—and it’s the worst advice that can ruin individual investors.” He also pointed out that “95% of the news plastered across the media, such as interest rates and exchange rates, is nothing but noise that has already been reflected in stock prices.” The only thing that reliably grows with frequent trading, he explained, is brokerage fees.
He argued that a sharp drop in stock prices should be seen as an “opportunity,” not a “crisis.” John Lee said, “If a company’s fundamentals and earnings are sound and only its share price has fallen, then for investors who need to build up their retirement savings, it’s like a ‘bargain sale’ on stakes in high-quality companies.” He emphasized, “People who line up to buy when prices are high but panic and sell when they’re low will never get rich if they keep repeating that behavior.”
As a way for individual investors facing accounts cut in half to stay afloat, John Lee proposed “systematic, regular investing with diversification.” His advice was to set aside 10–20% of one’s income every payday and automatically transfer it into low-fee exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the KOSPI 200 or leading U.S. indexes. He added that investors can withstand market shocks by diversifying across industries and countries rather than going all-in on a particular stock or a single sector.
He made an exception for older investors nearing retirement, around three years away, who need an immediate stream of living expenses: they should lower their stock allocation to 30–40% and focus on protecting against volatility by increasing their holdings of dividend-paying REITs or bond ETFs.
John Lee urged investors, “Stock investing isn’t a lottery ticket that makes you rich overnight; it’s a long journey in which your capital partners with high-quality companies.” He added, “Close your smartphone screen, focus on everyday life, and get back to the natural pace of keeping retirement in view.”
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter