(The following is excerpted from Chuck Carlson's new book, The Individual Investor Revolution, published by McGraw-Hill.)

For more than 10 years, I've been a season ticketholder of the Chicago Bulls. That privilege allowed me to see perhaps the greatest athlete of the 20th century - Michael Jordan - perform on a regular basis. The Bulls won championship after championship because the team played to its strengths - primarily Number 23. When you have the best player on the planet, you don't sit him on the bench. You maximize his talents. That may mean getting Michael 25 or 30 shots a game in order to win. It may mean using Michael as a decoy to free up another player for an open shot. Whatever the situation, your game plan is built around tapping the strengths that you have as a team.

Investing is no different. It's foolish not to use whatever advantages you have when doing battle in the individual investor revolution. One advantage you may bring to the battle is special expertise in a particular industry. You probably know more than you think when it comes to a particular company or industry group. That's an advantage that should be reflected in your investment approach.

Another advantage you have is the ability to invest for the long term. Since you have the luxury of time, you should this advantage in your investment program. How? One way is by buying stocks that may be out of favor in the near term but whose prospects are solid over the long term.

Another way you play to your strengths is by exploiting rule changes that favor you, such as the reduction in the capital-gains tax rate. Under the new rules, individuals in the top tax bracket (39.6 percent) will see their capital-gains tax rate reduced from 28 percent to 20 percent on investments held more than 12 months (once new legislation is signed). That rate will drop to 18 percent on investments bought after 2000 and held more than five years. The government, by reducing the capital-gains rate, made being a long-term investor a more profitable strategy. If you don't reflect this change in your investment strategy, you're wasting an advantage.