Illustration of the head and shoulders of a man with a monocle and white tie but instead of a head there is a small man holding a large swag bag

Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi

Sep 24th 2025|4 min read

Fifteen years ago, Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff published a book with an intriguing argument. For decades, financial advisers had suggested to retail investors that they take more risk when young, investing heavily in stocks before gradually shifting to safer bonds as they edge towards retirement. The pair of financial economists went one step further: young investors should actually borrow money to buy stocks, an idea they named “lifecycle investing”. After all, they pointed out, the historical record indicated that investors would have been better off taking on such leverage over any lifespan from 1871 to 2009.

Delivery of a bouquet of peonies in Chelsea, New York

Investing like the ultra-rich is easier than ever