Ferguson Shows Investors The Power Of Unchecked Perspective

Unchecked Perspectives Can Kill A Community And Your American Dream

                                              by: Brendan Magee

I know you might be tired of hearing about Ferguson at this point so please pardon my giving you another dose of it, but I believe for societies and investors there is powerful lesson to be learned that hasn't been brought up yet.

Like everyone, I watched the Ferguson Prosecutor announce that there would not be an indictment of Officer Darrin Wilson. From some peoples' perspective, this was an outrage. This was another example of a young black man being murdered and a lack of justice because of a racist legal system. Hence the, justifiable, looting and burning down of businesses that served their community.

Other people listened and found that the prosecutor meted a just decision given the evidence presented and felt relieved that justice had been served. They deemed the looting as baseless and criminal conduct. Here you have the same announcement met with two very different perspectives and there is untold physical, financial, and emotional damage that can't ever be accurately assessed, but it will be felt for a long time.

Investors often react to their perception of world events, an advertisement for an investment product,  something their advisor said or didn't say which sets of a chain of, what feels like logical and justifiable, actions that ultimately prove to sabotage the investors goals.

Say you get a few negative investment statements, what thoughts start going through your head? Should I stick with this portfolio? Can I trust my advisor? Doesn't my neighbor appear to be doing a lot better with their money then me? These thoughts, plus many others, often lead investors to do the exact wrong thing at the wrong time. Studies reveal that the average investor makes changes to their portfolio within a three year period of time. Investments that are supposed to be held for at least 20 years are dispensed of in less than a quarter of the time. The average investor over the past 20 years has barely kept pace with the rising cost of living and the evidence is that it has a whole lot more to with their behavior than the stock market.

So how does someone protect themselves from their destructive perspectives? The first step is to be humble and recognize that you are susceptible to hiccups in how you take in information. To be human is to be flawed. We all have biases built up over many years of experience. We can be distracted when we are watching  or listening to something. We can easily misinterpret something someone said or the intentions someone had in doing something to us. Based on this, we can easily overreact, underreact, become offended, miss the danger signs or blow someone off. We can easily take ourselves down the wrong path and be totally unaware of it.

So if we accept our limitations, we have no choice but to turn to others for help, a coach if you will. Rather than say "This stinks or he can't be trusted," maybe you turn to your coach and ask, " Did I hear that right? Does this seem right to you?, Am I off base here?" That momentary pause may keep you in investments that will help you to realize your American Dream. That momentary pause may keep you with that investment advisor whose advice or coaching rubbed you the wrong way, but ultimately would  keep you from falling prey to a con man or investment scam.

The final and maybe most difficult part  of this process is trusting someone. When is  handing over control over to someone else easy? I know that it is not my natural tendency, but the reality is that I have gotten myself into enough trouble over the years more times than I care to count or admit. When I have looked back at it, the trouble I endured, inevitably, it had more to do with me than anyone else. So I have no other choice to put some things in other peoples' hands if I want to see different results.

I know Ferguson is not the easiest thing to deal with, especially if that person killed or accused is someone you know and love. However, if the people of Ferguson had owned up to the possibility that as the verdict was announced, they had very little hope of controlling the behaviors that resulted from flawed perspectives, people might still have their businesses and people might be able to listen to the opinions of others without completely invalidating them. It's a lesson that investors would do well to learn from.

Brendan Magee is the founder of Inevitable Wealth Coaching. With questions or comments call 610-446-4322 or e-mail Brendan@coachgee.com.