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“Survival Guy, It Was a Self-Preservation Move”

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By vadosloginov @ Adobe Stock

Your Survival Guy was speaking with a client the other day. This client, like many of you, leads an active lifestyle. He has his 70-foot Swan to sail during the winter in the Caribbean, enjoys RVing to Alaska in the summer, is an instrument-rated pilot, owns two motorcycles (BMW and Harley), and skis until the mountain closes for the season. My kind of guy.

When we were talking, I asked him if he still flies. “Survival Guy,” he said, “the answer is no. It was a self-preservation move. Because when one has a senior moment, you don’t want to be going 200 miles per hour in the air. Eight knots, sailing is a much easier speed to recover from.”

He said he loved to fly and had the best teacher who would purposefully (apparently not allowed today) put the plane into a flat spin, lift the hood off the controls, and say, “She’s all yours.”

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“My palms are sweating just talking to you about it,” he told me. “But I remember exactly what to do and can feel the adrenaline kicking in right now.”

“But like I said, self-preservation kicked in.”

Action Line: There’s a lot of wisdom in allowing self-preservation to kick in. It’s a lot harder than we think. Such is life. Invest accordingly. When you’re ready to discuss preservation of prinipal, let’s talk.

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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 (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.
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