The Day After The Day That Lives In Infamy And Investing

The Day After The Day That Lives In Infamy And Investing

         by: Brendan Magee

Yesterday marked the 75th anniversary of the the attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. I was wondering what the day after the attack was like in the neighborhoods of America. That was the day the country was beginning to come to grips with what had just happened.  I remember how utterly stunned I was on September 12th, 2001.

For sure there was grieving for all the sailors and service men who lost their lives, anger at the Japanese for their surprise attack, fear because now the country was thrust into World War II and all that that would bring. At that point the country had to start picking up the pieces for not being able to see what was going to happen on December 7th.

This is one commonality between investing and our military, the biggest most dangerous problems each faces are the problems they cannot see. Imagine how life/history would have changed had the Navy been alerted to the pending attack of the Japanese? Imagine if the people who lost $65 billion to Bernie Madoff knew in advance that the man was a thief? Imagine how different the investing landscape would look today? I think this is one of the reasons terrorism and investing occupy so much of our attention. With each, there is always an element of the unknown and it can be terrifying to think what could happen

So given that there is always an element of the unknown with investing, how do we protect ourselves? We have to realize that like America's freedom, there are those who would like to take your money from you. They are good. They are smart, and they will never give up.

We have to accept that we cannot see everything. We need to have a second set of eyes to help us see our blind spots. That would be a coach. We need to engage in a conversation that enables us to stay vigilant. As a coach,  I hold monthly coaching sessions for my clients. This is so they can maintain an understanding of what it is they are doing with their money, but also fully understand why they are doing what they are doing. Hopefully, this does two things. One give them added peace of mind that they are doing the right things with their money. Two, as they are approached by people who mean to do them and their financial security harm, they can in some way recognize the danger and keep the wolves away.

We need to remember that unless we are held up at gun point nothing bad can happen to our money until we have said yes to something we shouldn't have said yes to, and unless we are asking the right questions, the wrong answer can be almost impossible to see. This is when the life altering events occur. History shows this clearly whether it's investing or wars.

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