Alcoholics and Investors-The Urge Never Goes Away

Alcoholics & Investors-

The Urge Never Goes Away

by: Brendan Magee

I attended the funeral of a great guy I had known for a long time. He died at the age of 85 and  lived a long life. One thing that I didn't know about my friend, Dave, was that he was a fifty year member of Alcoholics Anonymous. I only found out because at the luncheon after the services, I sat down next to a nice gentleman, Tom, who had been attending A.A. with Dave for the better part of 30 years.

One thing that struck me about the conversation we had was that Tom said, somewhat jokingly, that he bet his good friend Dave was up in heaven at that very moment enjoying a nice cold bottle of Budweiser. I was a little taken aback. I asked why he said that. I was thinking the last thing a person, after devoting 50 years of his life to sobriety, would be doing is entering the pearly gates with a cold beer in hand. Being a curious sort, I asked Tom, why he felt that way. He told me that no matter how much an alcoholic had spent in recovery, the urge or desire to drink never completely goes away. After spending so much time in a conversation and structure for sobriety, the urge might not be as strong as someone who has been sober for a month or a year, but it is always there Tom said.

Tom went on to say two things about A.A. that I thought related to investing. He said that is why he made it a point to go to his meetings on a consistent basis, going to at least two meetings a week whether he was on vacation or not. He said in order to not have his addiction get the better of him, and potentially ruin his life, he needed to make sure he stayed close to a conversation for sobriety. He said "Beer and booze are always  around me. I can't escape it, and without my meetings and fellow meeting makers, I don't know how I would have made it this long."

Tom said he and Dave also knew when someone who had been sober would start drinking again. He said that when ever someone stopped coming to meetings, invariably, they would hear a story that so and so started drinking again. They either got a DUI, got kicked out of their house, lost a job, or was in some kind of trouble due to drinking.  Tom told me there were two things an alcoholic needed to have any chance of staying sober. One was, the understanding that alcoholism wasn't going any where, it would always be there., Two was, that they needed to stay in a conversation for sobriety, via meetings with a group of committed individuals. On your own he said, an alcoholic has very little chance of staying sober.

I thought the perils of an alcoholic are very similar to that of many investors. When it comes to investing, gambling and speculation are all around. Investors have access to behavior that on the surface might seem harmless, but can quickly get an  investor, unknowingly, on a destructive path. How many people take, what on the surface is an innocent beer with the guys or partake of a wine and cheese party, with no idea that that would lead to tragic consequences?

Stock picking, market timing, and track record investing are all over the place. There isn't a commercial out there that isn't trying to goad the investor into behavior that is harmful to their financial security. The ability to transact business with a brokerage firm is a click of a computer away. One trade, one mutual fund purchase that based on a superior track record can easily hook an innocent investor. Once embedded, the urge never goes away. The high of perhaps beating the market or coming oh so close to picking a winner can be intoxicating.

So how does an investor thrive and survive in such a destructive world? One, admit that the forces trying to talk them into destructive behavior are all around them. They cannot escape them. They are powerful and in all likelihood more powerful then they are. Two, immerse yourself in a conversation for prudence, just like an alcoholic immerses themselves in a conversation for sobriety. Understand that a conversation and strength take place in a group of like minded people.

 Prudence, staying away from gambling and speculation, most likely will not be found at a day trading facility (People, places, and things to avoid).

Lastly, be it drinking or gambling and speculating with your money, they have benefits and a costs. With drinking, any personal pain you are dealing with gets numbed. You are around people who are laughing, singing, and having a great party, to name a few of the benefits. There are also costs to drinking, waking up with a hangover, relationships can be damaged, even severed for good as a result of drunken behavior or things that wouldn't be said while sober. Your career and finances can suffer as a result of excess drinking. A drinker needs to decide what they want more, a life with or without drinking.

Gambling and speculating with your money has benefits too. There's the action and shot of adrenaline waiting to hit on a hot stock tip. The dream of hitting it big and living a life of luxury can be very exciting. The idea of being able to brag to your friends about beating the market and out performing the Wall Street hot shots is enticing too. There's also the down side of gambling and speculating. The expected rate of return on gambling and speculating is zero. For every winner there will be thousands of losers. It can be upsetting seeing your money wasted on bad investment choices. It is sad to see other investors getting ahead of you while you make your broker rich at your expense.

Again, you just have to make a choice about which activity is costing you more. Once the cost outweighs the benefit, the path to go down or to avoid becomes obvious. You may need help staying on the right path, but that is also a sign of wisdom, to know what you should and shouldn't take on on your own.

So understand, no matter the vice, the urge isn't going any where. It will always be with you. You just need to understand and appreciate how strong it will be. Get help and then enjoy life. Isn't it great to know that you have the power to choose how great the quality of your life will be?

Brendan Magee is the founder and president of Inevitable Wealth Coaching.With questions or comments go to brendan@coachgee.com or call 610-446-4322. For more educational material go to www.Coachgee.com.