Investing Mistakes to Avoid: #5 History

By Triff @ Shutterstock.com

When Becky and I were married 25 years ago, we were 26 years old. If you add up our ages, we had 52 years of life experience. Then, we had our first child, and all that experience was kicked to the curb. And then, just when we thought we had everything pretty much under control, we decided it would be a good idea to have another one. Going from one to two isn’t linear. Two kids are many multiples more difficult. Which brings me to my next investing mistake to avoid: Kids. Kidding. They read this.

Life Comes at You Fast. Slow It Down with My Friday Email. It’s Free.

No, the investing mistake to avoid: #5 is History. Don’t think just because you know a few things about life, you’ve “got it figured out.” Ask your parents. We’re still learning. Avoid the mistake of thinking your “history” makes you an expert. We have enough of them running the world, don’t we?

Your Survival Guy smiles when he hears excited, giddy, young couples ready to take on the world say in unison, “We’re expecting our first in six months!” Because I’ve felt the same way, only to learn I never realized what 24-hours a day felt like in minutes. If you want to make time stand still, have a baby. Then have another. Think this is funny? It’s all fun and games until your kids have kids and all of a sudden, you’re changing diapers. You never thought you could love a book club or pickleball so much. “Sorry, I gotta go,” you say, with quick glance to your spouse that says, “Hurry up start the car!”

When I scan the investment advisory competition. (I do. Regularly.) It’s comical to me how these young bucks, smiling headshots and all, come up, and the firm adds up their ages to say that’s how many years of experience the firm has. Please. Years of experience are linear. They’re lived one day at a time. My father-in-law Richard C. Young has been doing this since the 1960s. That’s experience. History.

If you want history in the investment advisory business, if you want to see time stand still, work through a few market crashes with hundreds of clients. That’s how you get history, experience, and understanding of what it means to manage other people’s money. It’s not taught in a book.

Action Line: Like children, each market advance/decline is different. No one said making money or keeping money, would be easy. That’s fine. Life is linear. It’s a gift. It goes by fast. I can’t believe my oldest will be 22 on Sunday. When you’re ready to talk about your future, I’m here.

Read every one of the Investing Mistakes to Avoid here.

Bio
Latest Posts

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 (RIP JB) 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.