Equity Mates · Sep 28, 2026 · 46m · 33m saved
With Scott Phillips, Chief Investment Officer of The Motley Fool Australia and author of The One-Page Investing Plan
Scott Phillips runs a stock-picking service, and his new book tells most readers not to pick stocks.
Most fund managers argue that their own product is the answer. Phillips told Equity Mates that the default for most people should be a diversified ETF bought every payday, and that his employer's service is an optional layer on top.
"Most people shouldn't be buying shares individually and most people shouldn't have SMSFs."
Scott Phillips, Chief Investment Officer of The Motley Fool Australia, on Equity Mates, has written about investing for 15 years and joined the Fool after a career in consumer goods. His book, The One-Page Investing Plan, was written in two months.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 46 minutes of audio, 13 minutes of reading.
Here are the 14 principles that matter.
Key Takeaways
The default for most people is a diversified ETF bought every payday; stock picking is an option on top
The best definition of investing is the ability to subdue evolutionary impulses, in Phillips's words
Dollar cost averaging is the worst name for one of the most important ideas in investing
An emergency fund matters more than investing, and he would build it first
Most thematic ETFs fail his five-step test, because the trend being real is not enough
Airlines are his example: the trend was right and the investments were terrible
Australian property cannot keep outgrowing wages
On 30-year trends, repayments would reach 77.5% of gross salary
A crash is coming and he does not know when, so he says to invest anyway
Three crashes in 30 years still left a 13-fold return
1. Why the Book Isn't One Page
The hosts opened by noting that The One-Page Investing Plan runs well past one page. Phillips said the plan itself fits on a page on purpose.
"But the idea of the plan was to give people something they could use to start and then stay investing when things get tough." — Scott Phillips
He cited Morgan Housel's line that most books should be an article, and said he disagrees because people learn and remember through stories. Andrew Page, he said, gave him the idea that you can borrow an idea but not someone's conviction.
"And the rest of the book is basically the conviction bit." — Scott Phillips
Humans are not built to invest
He said people still carry instincts from the savanna: run from danger, eat the fruit before it spoils. Asking someone to save for an 80-year life runs against all of it.
"So we are so poorly prepared for investing that I say regularly, I reckon it's a clumsy line, but the best definition of investing is the ability to subdue our evolutionary impulses because that's kind of what it is." — Scott Phillips
