GAME ON! Lessons from Street Hockey on Baker Lane

By Luca Santilli @ Shutterstock.com

When I was a kid, I grew up on a dead-end lane, Baker Lane, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. The street hockey games were epic. I remember playing with the bigger kids when they’d have games at one end of the Lane or with my friends at the other end in front of my house. It’d get heated at times, especially when the bigger kids would get into wrestling fights after a play rolling around in a neighbor’s front yard. A little scary to see when you’re little.

Why am I writing this to you? Well, I read an article yesterday about how millennials are taking the task of investing into their own hands, and it got me thinking about the fourth grade. One memory I have was when I was standing in front of the class at the chalkboard and didn’t know the answer and the teacher kept pushing me to figure it out, my mind blanking out and how embarrassed I was. It was terrible. But I’m pretty sure I forgot about it as soon as I got outside to play street hockey after school.

The thing about investing at different stages in your life is how you handle the big hits. When you’re in your 20’s, you’re the equivalent of a grade school investor, just like standing, embarrassed at the chalkboard in fourth grade, you don’t have that much to lose. You don’t know what it’s like to really be in a tough spot in the markets. Think about someone you know in their twenties today, or who just graduated from college. Chances are they only know a rising stock market. They haven’t invested in the three brutal bear markets this century.

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Action Line: Markets don’t just go up. Sometimes you have to experience the big hits to realize investing real dollars, or the equivalent of a lifetime of savings, isn’t a game.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.