Value investing is only partly understood by many stock pickers. When investors see a stock price decline, they often perceive it as a good opportunity to buy at a better value. Sometimes it is. However, sometimes that stock price drops for a good reason, because it’s not a quality stock. Many retail investors overlook the most critical aspect of value investing: discerning quality, which requires experience in securities analysis. I even know financial professionals who don’t understand this.

For a stock to be of good value, it must be of good quality. Finding a good quality stock that is priced low means you are getting a lot of value for your money. That is a critical factor in how value investing works. Not all stocks are high quality—a lack of discernment results in a lack of success in investing. Discernment is the most critical skill in stock picking.

I’ve had the benefit of working in wealth management for two decades, and one thing I’ve observed is that many people who have acquired wealth have done so by dedicating their time to achieving success in their careers, coupled with the foresight to invest a large portion of their income over time. The powerful combination of focusing on earning a high income and not spending too much is the common thread of the self-made millionaires I know. However, the level of focus on developing and maintaining your craft, whether it’s law, medicine, software, or sports, requires a significant amount of your time. You’re putting in a whole workweek, but during your time off, you’re still reading reference materials and case studies, fulfilling study requirements to maintain your licenses, adding new skills to your repertoire, training, or traveling to games. This leaves little time to research other subjects, such as the best investment strategy for all of the money you’ve earned.

You can try to squeeze out an hour here and there to manage it on your own, but what if there were a wealth manager you could hire who dedicates all of their time to their craft just like you do to yours? What if they were as passionate about their work as you are? What if you trusted them to dedicate all their time to studying the market, allowing them to make the most informed decisions for your investment portfolio? What if handing the job over to them freed up more time for you to focus on something you can’t outsource, such as time with your family, time at the gym, or time on the water?

If you don’t trust anyone to care about your assets as much as you do, I get it. Neither do I. If you insist on doing it yourself, then at least let me offer you this tip:

Compounding growth is the most powerful catalyst you can leverage from a stock portfolio, but it only works if your stocks are generating growth. Here’s a trap to consider avoiding: If there is a stock that you are expecting to do well three years from now, you should consider buying it three years from now. This year, hold what is expected to do well right now.

If $100 takes 3 years to grow 10%, you’ll have $110 in three years.

If $100 grows 10% each year, you’ll have $133 in three years.

Add as many zeros as necessary to make that number hurt. I know this is basic investment knowledge, but too many investors disregard the power of math in their reasoning. Logic gets overlooked when we’re blinded by the allure of being an early investor in the next big thing.

People often dislike the cliché “time is money,” but time is, in fact, as consequential as return when calculating the compound growth of our money, so we mustn’t waste any of it. Don’t waste time waiting for a stock that might do well one day when there are other stocks doing well today.