September means a new school year, and we are reminded of the importance of teachers.

Investors tend to overthink things, yet simple formulas and basic math — like the lessons learned from our elementary math teachers — can lead to financial success.

Lesson 1: More time invested equals better returns
The stock market goes up 73% of the time over a one-year period. The odds jump to 94% over a 10-year period. Too many investors focus on the shorter periods of decline, and money is lost trying to time them. If your investment timeframe is long-term, play the odds and keep that money invested.

Lesson 2: Watch interest rates when paying down debt
Roughly 60% of current U.S. mortgages have interest rates below 4%. Money market funds — at least before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut last week — still pay close to 5%, as do CDs and high-quality bonds. Why pay down a fixed mortgage any faster than necessary when those dollars can earn more interest from conservative investments? In addition, if you itemize deductions, remember that mortgage interest lowers your taxes.

Lesson 3: Stocks have better long-term returns than cash and bonds
Stocks historically produce annual returns around 10%; the annual return for bonds is about 5%, and savings accounts are closer to 1%.  The price investors pay for superior stock returns is enduring ugly stretches of volatility. Long-term investors should focus less on volatility and more on the long-term averages. Most will benefit by increasing their allocation to stocks.

Lesson 4: If you don’t have it, don’t spend it
We all remember a homework question like: “If an apple costs $1 and Johnny has $5, how many apples can Johnny buy?” Johnny should not buy seven apples.

Lesson 5: Don’t forget mean reversion
This one might require graduating to middle school math, but you might remember mean reversion. For years, growth stocks have outperformed value stocks. Large-caps have done better than small-caps. And U.S. stocks have outperformed international. It is easy to dump underperforming assets and add money to the most recent winners. But it’s important to remember that returns tend to revert toward long-term averages. Don’t give up on underperforming asset classes and remember the adage of buying low.

Lesson 6: Finance is about math, not political science
While it is easy to manipulate data to support a narrative, the numbers show the stock market does not favor Republican or Democrat presidents. The mean annual growth rate of the market is higher with Democratic presidents while the median performance is higher under Republican presidents. The bottom line: Allowing your political beliefs to drive your investment decisions is a bad strategy.

Lesson 7: Compounding is powerful; start saving as early as possible
If you start investing $1,000 a month at age 40 and earn 8% a year, you will have about $957,000 by age 65 (after investing $300,000 during that time). If you instead invest $272 a month starting at age 25 and earn that same 8%, you will have about $957,000 by age 65 (after investing $130,080 over that time).

Lesson 8: Pay off high-interest rate debt first
If you have three loans, one at 6%, one at 9% and one at 15%, prioritize paying down the 15% loan. Some financial experts recommend prioritizing the lowest balance loan first, regardless of its interest rate, because of the emotional benefit you get from checking that financial box.

However, the theme of these lessons is to separate emotions from money. Trust the simple math you learned in elementary school.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.