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.
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.
