Tiger Will Get Another Chance, Investors Often Don't

Tiger Will Get A Second Chance, 

Investors Often Don't

                         by: Brendan Magee

It's all over the news. Tiger Woods has a mug shot because he was arrested Monday morning and charged with driving under the influence. No doubt a man who has accomplished as much as Tiger Woods has is experiencing a lot of pain right now in the form of embarrassment, humiliation, and shame. Fortunately, there is nothing that occurred Monday morning that is permanent. Nobody was killed or maimed. Nobody is going to spend the rest of their lives in jail. Tiger will go through the legal process and from a legal stand point that will be that.

Tiger may have a drinking problem or a drug problem of some kind. If that turns out to be the case, it can be dealt with. He is going to get another chance to save his life.

Unlike Tiger though, investors and their American Dreams often times do not get a second chance to rescue themselves from flawed thinking or behavior. Some times one breakdown is all it takes to sink a life time of hard work, aspirations, savings and investing.

Just one momentary slip up where an investor gets seduced and doesn't believe the rules for diversification apply to him anymore or a you get seduced by a t.v. personality who tells you the stock market has changed and the old ways of doing things no longer applies can cost someone a significant portion or maybe even their entire American Dream.

The point is behavior matters. Whether you are getting behind the wheel of a car and driving under the influence or investing your money, your behavior matters and sometimes you do not get a second chance.

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

A Fixed Payout Sets Investors Up For Failure

A Fixed Payout Sets Investors Up For Failure

                                   by: Brendan Magee

Let's start this off with the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it." This thought came to mind as I was listening to an investment adviser's ad on the radio.

He was promoting life settlements and how it has outperformed just about every investment out there without the volatility of the stock market. Then he went onto say that the product he is offering will also give investors a fixed payout, and that is where the red flag really went up.

On the surface, a fixed or guaranteed payout sounds good. Who wouldn't want to know in advance and have guaranteed what they could count on from their investments? The answer being anyone who doesn't live in the world of inflation.

A fixed payment would be great if prices were going to stay the same forever, but that is not the world we live in. Costs go up every year and to have some breathing room our money has to outpace the rising cost of living.

So using this adviser's product, lets say you retire at 65 and you have a very inexpensive lifestyle. You are getting a fixed payout from this adviser's life settlement product of $30,000 per year and it is enough to get by. Come age 75, if the rate of inflation goes up by just two percent per year, you are going to need $36,569 at that point to be able to afford a lifestyle that was costing you $30,000 at age 65. However with the adviser's life settlement product giving us the same $30,000 per year you have a deficit of $6,569 per year and that is only going to increase as the cost of living continues to rise.

So all you have to look forward to is the cost of living passing you by and having to make due with an income that won't ever change. Your goose was cooked the minute you were seduced into saying yes to a product and and an adviser offering a fixed payout in a rising cost world.

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

Investors-Thank God For Pain

Investors-Thank God For Pain

                             by: Brendan Magee

Most of us spend the majority of our lives trying to avoid pain. There is a multi-billion dollar industry of people offering all kinds of remedies to fix our many pains. But, have you ever considered where you would be if you could not experience pain?

I took someone to the doctors the other day because their feet were experiencing swelling, becoming red, and becoming more and more numb. His feet were so bad that he had sores on the bottom of his feet. These were sores that most people would not be able to stand and walk with, but he couldn't feel them due to the numbness in his feet. Simple cuts that could be remedied with a band aid had now become infections, infections that were threatening his bones and could ultimately lead to amputations. From the man's perspective the sores and their severity never entered his mind because he couldn't feel the pain. Without the pain, there was no need to go to the doctors.

Finally, when he did go to the doctors, there was pain. The pain came when his doctor told him about the possible amputations due to the infections. It didn't take long to convince the man that he needed surgery so the doctor could operate on his legs to try and get the circulation flowing back to his legs. The physical pain couldn't be felt but the psychological pain, thank God, was felt. When was the last time anyone considered the ability to feel pain a blessing?

Investors, might also reconsider their ability to feel pain a blessing as well. Imagine if you couldn't become frustrated, scared, confused, anxious, nervous, excited, etc.? Imagine if you went through life totally numb? That's not the best way to go.

Not until the pain has gotten bad enough do people make changes. Without it, people could stay in bad portfolios or stick with ill-serving financial advisors forever.

So the next time you are in pain, take the steps to alleviate your pain. Then thank God for the ability to experience pain. Without it, things would never change.

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