My love for the stock market and investing was born nearly 26 years ago, when I was a high school senior. That was the year my classmates and I were enrolled in The Stock Market Game 2000 by our government/economics teacher.

With virtually no understanding of how the stock market worked, our class was split into teams of four and each given $100,000 in fictitious money to invest. Whereas some teams democratically invested their $100,000, my team broke its allotment into quarters, so we all could do as we wished with our $25,000. I recall plowing my $25,000 into a small airplane parts manufacturer, Oregon Metallurgical. Two months later, Oregon Metallurgical was acquired by Allegheny Teledyne, now known as ATI. All told, my fictitious $25,000 soared nearly 90% in a matter of months. When I realized I could do this with real money, I was hooked.

It's been about 25 years since I opened my first online brokerage account. While there have certainly been bumps along the way, it's mostly been an enjoyable ride. Here are 25 things I've learned as an investor over the past 25 years.

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Source Fool.com