The Rich Make Bad Investments Just Like You and Me, Sort Of

For anyone who ever felt bad about the fact that their stock trading could serve as a road map for how not to make money, here is some comfort: Really rich people make the same mistakes managing their money as everyone else. Unless they’re really, really rich.

A group of researchers including Enrichetta Ravina, an economist at Columbia Business School, Luis Viceira of Harvard, and Ingo Walter of the Stern School of Business at New York University analyzed households with an average net worth of $90 million during the years 2000 to 2009. They looked at where such folks put their money, how diversified it was, the level of risk they took, and the taxes they paid on their earnings. They found that most of the ultrawealthy aren’t privy to a secret formula that helps ensure profit no matter the market conditions. They make about an equal share of dumb mistakes.