“Tell me where I’m going to die, so I don’t go there”. July 10, 2026

July 10, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

"Tell me where I'm going to die, so I don't go there"

The episode opens with a line from Charlie Munger that frames the entire conversation: "The only thing I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I never go there." Host Scott Phillips and Andrew Page use this inversion principle as the organizing idea for a discussion about what investors should avoid, rather than what they should do. The central thesis is that removing the most destructive behaviors from your investing process is more powerful than trying to be brilliant.

The inversion principle and why it works

The core argument is that investors gain more by systematically avoiding stupidity than by trying to be intelligent. Page cites Munger directly: "It is remarkable how much long term advantage people like us have gotten by trying to be consistently not stupid instead of trying to be very intelligent." The hosts frame this as a practical approach rather than a philosophical one. If you can identify the behaviors that reliably destroy wealth and simply refuse to do them, you are left with a small set of sensible actions that produce good outcomes over time. Page compares it to Michelangelo's block of marble — the statue of David is already in there, and the art is in what you remove.

The most dangerous behaviors to avoid

Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.

Read Full Summary →

Free • No credit card required

Listen to Audio Summary Open in App

Never miss an episode of Motley Fool Money

Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

What you'll learn

1 (00:17) **Introducing the Inversion Principle** - Scott Phillips and Andrew Ram Page frame the episode around Charlie Munger’s aphorism: “The only thing I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I never go there.”
2 (02:57) **The Danger of FOMO and Speculating Outside Your Circle** - Andrew identifies the first major thing to avoid: buying into a hot, rapidly rising asset out of fear of missing out.
3 (14:29) **The Spreadsheet Trap** - Scott warns against over-relying on complex financial models that create false confidence.
4 (21:15) **Avoid Short-Term Price Speculation** - Andrew explains why he treats short-term trading as a form of gambling with a negative expected value.
5 (28:15) **Ego and Self-Deception** - Scott argues that ego is the root of most investing mistakes, from overconfidence to refusing to admit ignorance.
6 (39:45) **Watering the Weeds, Cutting the Flowers** - Andrew warns against making buy/sell decisions based solely on share price movements rather than changes in the business’s intrinsic value.
7 (48:01) **Avoid Pre-Revenue and Binary-Outcome Companies** - Andrew explains his personal rule against investing in companies with no revenue or binary catalysts like FDA approvals.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Scott Phillips Andrew Page

Show Notes

We talk a lot about what investors should do. But what ‘not’ to do is potentially more important.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.