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Don’t be average.

The average investor consistently earns less than the very funds they own — not from bad luck, but from buying and selling at the wrong moments. This free report shows the size of that gap across three independent studies, and the discipline that closes it.

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Three studies, fully citedThe 20-year dollar cost, chartedFree, unsubscribe anytime
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Why this matters

The market’s return and your return are not the same number.

You can own the right funds and still trail them. The gap between what an investment returns and what its investors actually earn is one of the most consistent findings in finance — and almost nobody sees it happening to them in real time.

The first step to closing the gap is knowing it exists, and knowing exactly what it costs. That is what this report is for.

What’s inside

The data, the dollars, and the discipline.

1
The behavior gap across three studies
Morningstar's Mind the Gap, DALBAR's QAIB, and J.P. Morgan's Guide to the Markets — what each one found, why their numbers differ, and the one conclusion all three share.
2
What a one-point gap costs over 20 years
$10,000 compounded at the average investor's rate, the S&P 500's rate, and our backtested Core 20 rate — side by side. The dollars are not close.
3
The three behaviors that drive it
Selling into fear, chasing performance, and trading too much. The predictable patterns every study traces the gap back to — and how to recognize them in yourself.
4
What disciplined investing looks like
How a defined process — fixed universe, conviction weights, scheduled rebalancing, a written reason to hold each position — removes the moments where behavior does its damage.
5
Full sources and disclosures
Every figure cited to its study, every window stated, and an honest note on what is backtested and what is observed. Citation-ready.
About Advising Alpha

You don’t have to be a stock market guru to invest like one.

Advising Alpha helps serious investors stop guessing and start growing. We publish time-tested model portfolios, weekly briefs that cut through the noise, and the discipline to compound through every market — the exact antidote to the behavior gap this report measures.

This report is one of the free tools we publish. The Sunday Edge — also free — lands every week with new context, commentary, and a fresh look at where the market sits.

Get the report. See what average costs.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. Designed for a reader who wants the data, not the noise.

Get the report — free

See exactly how much being average costs.

Enter your email below. We’ll add you to the free Sunday Edge and you’ll get the report on the next page.

Free. Unsubscribe anytime. No spam, no third-party sharing.

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