--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What you pay for an investment is the…" description: "\"What you pay for an investment is the single biggest determinant for how successful that investment will be. When equity prices are high, your returns ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/barry-ritholtz-5065_biggest_what-you-pay-for-an-investment-is-the-si_421447.jpg" --- # What you pay for an investment is the single biggest… ![“What you pay for an investment is the single biggest determinant for how successful that investment will be. When equity prices are high, your returns will be lower. When they are cheap, your returns will be higher.” quote by Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/barry-ritholtz-5065_biggest_what-you-pay-for-an-investment-is-the-si_421447.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/barry-ritholtz-5065_biggest_what-you-pay-for-an-investment-is-the-si_421447.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/050/barry-ritholtz-5065_biggest_what-you-pay-for-an-investment-is-the-si_421447.jpg) > “What you pay for an investment is the single biggest determinant for how successful that investment will be. When equity prices are high, your returns will be lower. When they are cheap, your returns will be higher.” [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Investment returns are driven by price levels; buying low and selling high maximizes gains. **In simple terms:** Buy low, sell high for better returns. Key Takeaway Time purchases with market cycles. Themes investment strategy market timing price valuation Mood pragmatic analytical Type financial educational When to use this quote - portfolio building - retirement planning - market analysis - risk management Key Concepts behavioral finance asset allocation Questions to Reflect On - How can you identify undervalued assets? - What safeguards protect against timing errors? A Different Perspective Predicting lows is difficult and risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Biggest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biggest/) [Cheap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cheap/) [Customer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/customer/) [Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity/) [Equity Prices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equity-prices-3735440/) [High](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high/) [High Returns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-returns-701487/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [How](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/how/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Investment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investment/) [Investment Equity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investment-equity-3735439/) [Investment Single](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investment-single-3735441/) [Lower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lower/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Prices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prices/) [Returns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/returns/) [Single](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/single/) [Successful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/successful/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) [Your](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/your/) ## Related quotes > [There is no such thing as high returns without risk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerry-schwartz/there-is-no-such-thing-as-high-returns-without-risk/) [Gerry Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerry-schwartz/) > [The ideal business is one that earns very high returns on capital and that keeps using lots of capital at those high returns. 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