Top lesson in 17 years? Get started

Q: How can I make money on stocks?

A: Today is the final Ask Matt column. I’m joining a money- management firm as a writer. It seemed the right time for me to impart the top lesson I’ve learned from answering questions for 17 years.

If you want to make money on stocks, stop obsessing about minutiae. Get started. Invest, diversify and hold on. If you don’t know how, hire help.

It’s easy to fixate on such details as choosing which stock to buy, which investment accounts to open and fees. But don’t get so bogged down you make the big mistake of sitting out the market.

Let’s say 25 years ago you put $ 10,000 into a disappointing investment that trails the market by 2 percentage points a year. Let’s make it even uglier and say this investment charges a 1.5% annual fee. Even this horrible investment would have gained 274% over the 25- year period, to $ 38,934.

Don’t make it hard. Buy a diversified stock and bond fund. Just get started.