As part of my personal development I read. I read blogs, articles, opinions, text books, paperbacks, comics, newspapers and even the back of cereal boxes. I read so much I at times don’t remember where I came across a particular thought process or whether the thought has become my own as part of travelling through the mixing bowl that is my personal knowledge base.
I’d like to take this moment to share with you some of the thoughts I have and hold to be true for most with regard wealth creation. Consider them and just remember:
- No one can plan for the future – much less invest successfully in it – without believing in that future. There is virtually always an apocalypse du jour going on somewhere in our world. On the rare occasions there is not, journalism will simply invent one, and present it 24/7 as the end of the world. You must choose to be optimistic and just believe.
- In real life, investment performance statistics are an abstraction, because real people don’t get investment returns … they get investor returns which are generally much, much worse.
- Unaided by behavioural coaching from a trusted adviser, the investor sooner or later (or both) will get done in by the behavioural propensity to make the big mistake (more on that later). “We have found the enemy, and he is us”.
- Most of what you need to know about implementing and maintaining an appropriate investment portfolio can be summed up in 5 words: Get diversified and stay diversified.
- When you are dollar cost averaging evenly into your diversified portfolio, you are always loading up on whatever’s out of favour, and just nibbling at the flavour of the month and is fashionably expensive. This is exactly the opposite of what most people do, which largely explains why most people don’t achieve true wealth.
- The less often you change your investment portfolio, the better your return in the long run. Trying to increase your real-life return a lot by switching funds is like trying to change your personality by changing your socks. Immediate past performance (5 years or less) is the single worst way to select investments ever thought up by the mind of man. Remember portfolio management is the tail; behaviour is the dog. Everything else is a refinement.
The Big Mistake
The Big Mistake has eight incarnations and no individual is immune to making them (that’s part of the experience that is life). Many of the great mistakes can be made simultaneously, and a couple are made sequentially. The great mistakes are:
- Over diversification: owning nothing by owning a little bit of everything
- Under diversification: the fatal narrowing of a portfolio to essentially one idea
- Euphoria: the loss of an adult sense of principal risk
- Panic: the failure of faith in the face of the apocalypse du jour
- Speculating when you still think you are investing: the siren song of a new era
- Investing for yield instead of total return: suicide on the instalment plan, by fixing one’s income in contemplation of 30 years of rising living costs
- Letting your cost base dictate your investment decision: asking your investments to behave differently because of what you paid for them
- Leverage: hocking the house to buy the wrong idea at the wrong time
One more thought to leave you with for now:
“Fear has a greater grasp on human action than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel, Stock for the Long Run.
I believe the highest and best function of your financial adviser may simply be in convincing you not to give in to fear. If all your adviser ever did was to stop you from making a big mistake and tap dancing into a mine field would you be happy?
If you have any doubts about your ability to do this, or you would like advice and assistance to guide you through the many options, act now to get the knowledge and mentoring that you need.
Where to from here?
If you would like to discuss the topics raised or if you would like more information, speak to your financial adviser or contact Dan Smith of Plan 2 Prosper on 07 49265 570.
Dan Smith is self employed and is for many families their trusted Financial Planner based in Rockhampton. He has clients in various locations throughout Australia but predominately in Central Queensland and specifically the geographic area encompassed by the Rockhampton Regional Council.
This information is intended to only provide you with general information and, while the sources for the material are considered reliable, no responsibility is accepted for any inaccuracies, errors or omissions. Before making a decision based on this information, you must consider its appropriateness having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. We recommend you obtain professional financial advice specific to your circumstances.
Dan Smith and Dancin Pty Ltd ABN 71 531 338 371 trading as Plan 2 Prosper are Authorised Representatives of GWM Adviser Services Limited ABN 96 002 071 749 trading as MLC Financial Planning, an Australian Financial Services Licensee, with its Registered Office at 105 – 153 Miller St, North Sydney NSW 2060
