Avoid this Investing Pitfall
There are often times when we’re too smart for our own good. Our success and genius in our work lives provides a false sense of competency in the realm of financial planning and investment management.
For example: entrepreneurs generally make terrible stock and investment pickers because it’s two totally different skill sets. Entrepreneurs are able to make quick, effective decisions based upon their gut instincts and experience. They move fast, and many times the right decision comes to them in strange ways: a dream, a funny feeling, or the hair stands up on the back of their neck.
In contrast, winning in the stock market is a long game, relying heavily on statistics, analysis of large amounts of data, and careful, well thought out execution.
Doctor’s, who are usually brilliant, by the way, also are prone to poor investment decisions for some of the same reasons. They are very comfortable and accustomed to wading through complicated facts and making a prognosis. This does not translate well to investing because 1. Facts are hard to come by, and 2. There are infinitely more variables than can be calculated any human brain.
Investing and financial planning is best to left in the hands of those who spend all of their time thinking about that stuff. Unless you are not able to dedicate quite a bit of time keeping up with financial markets and doing your own research, it is best to seek advice from a professional you trust and has your best interests in mind.
If you truly want advice and want to avoid paying high commissions on product sales, you need to find what is called a fee-only planner, like us.
The best place to find a fee-only planner is through the largest professional organization of fee-only financial advisors in the country – The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA). They have a find an advisor link on their website. There are around 3,000 NAPFA members, representing around 1% of the entire universe of advisors. In instances where we have to make a referral to another firm, these are the advisors we recommend.
