Investors: The Price For Success Isn't Your Money

Investors: The Price For Success Isn't Your Money

by: Brendan Magee

A short time ago I met for a review with a client, a very nice hard working young woman. When I say hard working I mean 60 hours a week, and with her schedule she is not able to make a lot of the group coaching sessions I hold because she is usually on the train or trolley coming home. Since we haven't had as much coach/client interaction as we would like I have arranged to meet with her from time to time on Saturday mornings.

At our last one on one session she blurted out, "Why do I have to meet with you and engage in these coaching sessions? You have all my money. I am not involved in the day to day management of the money. Why do I need to engage in something I am not interested in?"

Good questions. Why does an investor have to be engaged past the point that they have decided to give their money to an adviser? After all, isn't that exactly why you hire an adviser in the first place? Isn't the agreement that the investor pays the adviser to handle their investments? Plus, wouldn't it be great if all you had to do to guarantee your success was hire the right adviser? Then you would be free to go about the rest of your life unfettered by any investing or financial concerns.

Unfortunately, this point of view is a little short sighted and if the investor doesn't deal with this misconception their failure as an investor is pretty much guaranteed.  Yes, money has to be invested prudently and managed according to the rules (Own equities, diversify, buy low/ sell high), but that is not what is going to make or break your success as an investor. Your behaviors-what you do, what you don't do, what you allow to be done with your money, and what you don't allow to be done with your money- from the day you open an account til the day you leave this Earth will more than any thing determine your success as an investor.

I am reminded of a documentary that I saw on health clubs like Bally's and Planet Fitness. The gentleman being interviewed had come up from the fitness industry to own his own chain of gyms and he said one of the things that struck him was when a former gym owner talked about a gym's most prized group of members. Those being, the members who signed up but never show up. Every month they debited those members checking accounts for their membership dues of $10 to $20 per month, but never had to cover the expense of providing those members any services.

Now I am sure that like investors who opened investment accounts with the intention of attaining wealth, those same gym members joined the gym with every intention of losing weight and becoming healthier. Unfortunately, their membership dues were the least of what it was going to take to lose weight and get healthier. They actually had to show up and engage in the exercises and eat right.In and of itself these activities are not fun and enjoyable. The great idea of losing weight can easily become less of a priority the further and further you move away from the conversation.

Rather than getting up when the alarm goes off, a few more hours of sleep can be the better option. A cheese steak rather than the salad can be easily justified when you promise yourself you will stay on the treadmill 15 minutes longer the "next" time you go to the gym.

As their are distractions with working out, there are just as many with investing. The behaviors that assure long-term investment success can easily become one great big inconvenience and set aside for another day.

"I know I shouldn't put so much money in one stock, but I'll just do it this once. I know track records are worthless, but man this guy's been on fire for the past five years. I'll just ride with him for a little while and get out after a year or two." Be it exercise or investing, there is always someone who is more than happy to profit from your dysfunctional behavior. 

Prudent investing and healthy life styles are conversations that are too easy on our own to disengage from. Unfortunately, the cost of disengaging from either isn't felt right away. Eventually, they are way higher and more permanent then any of us ever bargained for.

Take a look at some of the anti smoking ads on television. They show people having had limbs amputated, losing all their teeth, etc. If they don't scare the bejesus out of you and disuade you from smoking, nothing will. For investors go to Youtube and watch an episode from PBS's documentary series Frontline titled "The Retirement Gamble." See what some of those people are dealing with as a result of their imprudent investor behavior. It will send a few chills down your spine. Money cannot ever protect you from your own dysfunctional behavior.

The ideal solution is to start with a purpose, something that is big enough and means enough to you for you to engage in a different set of behaviors. You also need to revisit that purpose form time to time. Out of sight means out of mind.

Wanting to be around for my children's graduations was a big enough reason for me to get up the past two years at 5:00 a.m. four days a week and engage in a very intense workout at the UFC Gym (Have lost 20 pounds and kept it off is my endorsement of their services).

For investing you need to have just as strong and meaningful purpose. Then realize it will be easy to walk away from it and that on your own you will not be able to maintain the discipline necessary to fulfill on your ultimate purpose. Get a coach and make sure his or her purpose isn't money. Yes, you will pay for their services, but it has to be about way more than money. Be it money, exercise, or anything worthwhile unless your heart and soul is engaged, ultimately you will fail.

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

Basketball Coaches, Investors-It Just Takes Once

Once Is All It Could Take To Ruin Everything

By: Brendan Magee

Like just about everyone else, I have seen the video above involving Neshaminy High School Basketball Coach, Jerry Devine and the ref, who according to your interpretation of the video head butted or chest bumped the ref causing him to fall to the court. As of today reports are that Mr. Devine has been suspended from his coaching duties pending further investigation.

According to all the talk of the local radio shows Mr. Devine has been a respected member of the school's faculty and basketball coach for 10 years, and nothing on his record shows behavior that would be of concern. It's just that in the heat of the moment, he crossed the line, and from this point on his life will be changed forever. The dust hasn't settled yet and the outcome is still to be determined. Who knows, he may lose his coaching job. He may face a law suit or criminal charges. That is all to be determined.

One thing is for sure though, incidents of this sort will eventually fade from the public conscious, but from this point on Mr.Devine's life will not be the same. Should he apply for any other coaching job, this incident will be taken into consideration. When he walks into a social function and talks to people about what he does for a living the incident will come up again. I have never met Mr. Devine and have no reason to question his moral integrity.People don't stay in coaching and teaching positions for any length of time unless they are competent and well thought of.

At this point, I only have the video, and you can't help but have an interpretation about Mr. Devine. Some times all it takes is once, have your emotions get the better of you, you react, and from that point everything changes. Unfortunately, the consequences of those changes can last for a lifetime.

Any where there is human involvement, there will be emotional reactions. This is true whether it be basketball games or investing. Similar to basketball coaches and referees, the same can take place between investors and their advisers. You sit down with an adviser to go over your portfolio. You have a lot of pride in what you have been able to save and feel good about your nest egg. During the meeting your adviser points out a few short comings in your portfolio or decision making process.

You think you have a conservative portfolio and he or she points out you have 60% in U.S. Large Company  Stock and gives evidence that your portfolio is not nearly as conservative as you thought. You don't like hearing your decision making process is flawed. You might not head butt the adviser, but in your mind you are saying, "Screw you. Get out of my office!" 

Another example, you think you've got the inside track on the next Micro Soft. You are not seeking constructive criticism as much as validation of your investing genius. Your adviser tells you it's a bad idea to put all your eggs in one basket. He reminds you that in spite of all the research you have done, your decisions about the stock are speculative. You don't know what the future is going to bring and what the impact will be on your stock pick. He reminds you that you made a commitment to hold your current portfolio for 20 years and you are dumping it after just five years. "Well who the hell are you to tell me what to do with my money! I made it. I'll do what I want with it!"

Staying with a fundamentally flawed portfolio or putting way too much of your money in one stock can have dire consequences on not only your financial security, but your life as well. Ask yourself, when you are under financial stress, are you the father, mother, sister, employee, boss, friend, you should be? Do others feel the impact of your stress? Some times not only is the money and financial security affected, but the relationships can be damaged forever as well.

I don't know if Mr. Devine's assistant coaches could have prevented him from going after the ref or not, but if they would have, his day today would be going a lot differently than it is now. Investors who have a coach who they entrust to keep their money from being impacted by their instincts and emotions would be well served as well.

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. For more educational material go to www.coachgee.com.

Eagles Didn't Sign Kiko For One Year

Eagles Didn't Sign Kiko For One Year

by: Brendan Magee


Perhaps no story defines the Eagles season better than the trade involving star running back Lesean McCoy. The Eagles traded all time leading running back Shady McCoy to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso.They gave up so much proven talent to get back a linebacker who this season was far from productive. No doubt, if the trade involved just this one year, the Eagles are the loser. They should simply cut Alonso and move on.

However, I do not believe the Eagles made the trade with just this one year in mind. They most likely made the trade with the next five to seven years in mind, and this is where the Eagles need to be very careful and investors can learn a valuable lesson.

How many teams in history made quick judgements on players and lived to regret it? Does the name Johnny Unitas ring a bell? The Pittsburgh Steelers cut him.They only showed who may have been the greatest quarterback in history the door after a tryout. How about Ryne Sandberg? The Phillies let a future all star second baseman go to the Chicago Cubs for nothing and didn't get a good second baseman until Chase Utley arrived some 25 to 30 years later.

Now, I don't know if Alonso will turn into the next Lawrence Taylor or Izel Jenkins (Remember Toast?), but I know that it is too early to say one way or the other. The Eagles need to have patience and not give into impulse roster moves.

No doubt remembering and living by decisions that are supposed to play out over a long period of time can be difficult. The grass always seems to be greener and going for the quick fix is tempting, but there is a reason teams like the Steelers have multiple Super Bowls and are always competitive. They do the best job of sticking to fundamentally sound principles, not the latest and greatest fad. Have you ever known a Steelers team that didn't block and tackle well?

The same lessons need to be remembered by investors. 

There is a reason why the overwhelming majority of investors struggle with investing. They make decisions that are meant to be played out over 25 to 30 years and if expectations are not met within a one, two,or at best a three year period of time, changes have to be made to their portfolios.

"My friend's fund got 20% last year and I only did 8%! To hell with this! I want his broker's phone number." "We just got back from Disney and the place was packed. I am loading up on Disney stock. How can I lose?" "The past two years I haven't earned a penny and my broker is earning how much in fees?  What a thief!"

Now when the impulses and emotions get the better of us, what is sold? The under performing investment is out the door and what I buy is the five star fund or the hot stock. Now when that tanks the whole process is repeated and the investor's financial future is in a death spiral. When in the heat of the moment, the wrong move always seems to be the right one.

Statistics show that the average investor is barely breaking even with the rising cost of living in the past 20 to 25 years. It's not the market that is broken! Investors are consistently doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

So how do investors get out of their own way? First, admit policing their own behaviors is too big of a task. They get engaged in a conversation for prudent long-term investing with a like-minded group of people. I can't tell you how much better I do when I work out with people who are committed to health and fitness.

As an investor, you need to tap into the power of a group rather than go it alone. You need to share when you are wavering from what you know is the right thing to do and ask for help. Know that there are people out there who profit from you doing the wrong  thing at the wrong time and they are experts in the art of seduction. You will never see them coming and holding them off will be a life long job.

The Eagles and investors need to know that there emotions will always be there. You can't get away from them. They will always make the wrong seem right and you can always find people who support the wrong decision. They profit from it. When it comes to championships and financial security it will take the opposite of what you are seeing to come out ahead.

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. For additional educational info go to www.coachgee.com.

Shady Mccoy & Investors- Emotions Usually Win

Shady McCoy & Investors Emotions Usually Win, You Lose

by: Brendan Magee


One of the most entertaining aspects of last week's Eagles game was the drama surrounding Shady McCoy's return to Philadelphia and playing against the coach that traded him, Chip Kelly. Upon his trade, McCoy stated that his race played a role in being traded to the Buffalo Bills.  All week long speculation ran rampant about what would happen when these two men came face to face.


Even though professional athletes get traded all the time, clearly, McCoy did not expect to be traded and has voiced his upset publicly on many occasions. By his statements leading up to the game and behavior after it, he's still quite angry. Kelly has tried to defuse the situation. He owned up to the fact that McCoy's trade had not been handled in the best way. He said he should have contacted McCoy before the announcement by the media, and that McCoy deserved better. He said if the occasion arose he would shake McCoy's hand in an attempt to put the whole episode behind them.


Whether it's burying old wounds or investing, emotions can easily over power what you know to be the right thing to do and keep you stuck in a bad spot. You perceive someone to be embarrassing you, you get furious at them. They are done as far as you are concerned. Unfortunately, you may have only perceived an insult. Maybe your best friend/ tormentor was making a joke (perhaps it was a bad joke) with no intention of hurting your feelings, at all. A life long friendship maybe damaged forever, based on a simple misunderstanding and the emotions that take over. Anyone else and you would tell them to talk with their friend and work things out. Simple, but not when emotions are running so high.


Same thing with investing. The market drops by a few hundred points. Your portfolio is down 15% maybe 25%. You get scared. "This is all the money I have! I can't lose it! I can't go live with my kids! How humiliating would that be!"


Any one else's account and you would know what to do, calm as a cucumber. "Buy low
/sell high. This is a long-term investment. Let's turnoff the cable television shows and go get some ice cream or play some golf. There's no need to panic." None of this is easy when it is your money, but this is exactly what you know you should do.


The key for getting through life's challenges big or small and investing is recognizing and appreciating the enormous power that your emotions and instincts have. You also need to be able to recognize the areas of life and investing where they are going to be working against you. In other words, you need to be able to know where your emotions will have you engaged in self sabotage, and get help.


Last week in a radio interview, Ike Reese and Seth Joyner, two former Eagles' players, talked to McCoy about the time they were both traded from the Eagles. They were trying to give him the benefit of their experience. They both said how emotional and upsetting that had been for them. They felt as if they'd been slapped in the face by the Eagles. They spoke about how hard it was to separate personal feelings from what was purely a business decision.


McCoy having placed unwarranted racist accusations at the feet of Kelly, Joyner and Reese were trying their best to help McCoy take the high road and get beyond this incident. They told McCoy that it is ok and natural to let emotions get the better of your mouth. People could understand that. Everyone has been in that situation and could forgive all grievances if they were owned up to. McCoy refused the opportunity and left Lincoln Financial Field still stuck.


If as an investor, you are stuck. If you cannot say  that you have the peace of mind or experienced the success you were looking for with your money and investing, it's not because you do not know what to do. Own equities/stocks, diversify, buy low/sell high are rules are the time tested rules for ssuccess and I am sure you have heard them at some point in the past. Consider that your emotions and instincts at some point got the best of you. They had you say yes to something that you can look back on and say, perhaps grudgingly, was inappropriate to do with your money. Perhaps you can see where this has happened more times than you can count? That's ok. You are human and our humanity can be difficult to deal with.


Let's have our come to Jesus moment and own up to our fallibility. Let's own up to our inability to police our own instincts and emotions and, for a moment take a look at what would be possible if we stopped letting our emotions get the best of us. How different would our lives and investments look?
Then get help and take the coaching. You and Shady will be the better for it.


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.

Guns, San Bernardino, & Investing- We Have The Power

Guns, San Bernardino &; Investing- We Have The Power

by: Brendan Magee

Finding the words to put San Bernardino in a proper and justifiable context is just about impossible. Since Friday a week ago, I have been scared, angry, frustrated, saddened. I can't imagine what would cause someone to pick up a gun and kill 14 of their neighbors, friends, and coworkers. I can't imagine the pain of your loved one not walking through the door at night all because they attended a Christmas party that turned into mass murder.

Like it was at 9/11, I am asking a lot of questions where there doesn't seem to be any answers that make sense. How or who do we need to turn to make sure things like this never happen again? At times like these it is easy to feel powerless. To gain perspective, I often turn to the experience of others who dealt directly with overwhelming circumstances.

I just got done reading a book, The Price of Courage, which documents the German invasion of France during World War II and how a French family dealt with the occupation of Paris. Two sisters and a brother risked everything to serve in the French Resistance. They endured the constant threat of being discovered as agents of the Resistance and the instant death sentence that would bring. The brother even endured and survived being thrown in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Where most of the country wouldn't, this family took responsibility and said no to the loss of their country and liberty to Nazi Germany. Ordinary citizens who took responsibility for themselves and their country.

We tend to forget just how powerful we truly are. Some times it is easier not to assume responsibility. I do not know whether or not it falls on deaf ears or not, but when I begin to coach someone on their investments, I start out by telling them that what ever success they achieve or failure they suffer it will be a direct result of what it is they do or don't do, what they allow or do not allow to be done with their money.

Take some of the most sinister and devastating investment scandals of our time. Bernie Madoff could not have stolen $65 billion unless the people who invested with him said yes to what ever it was he was offering them. On a much less sinister scale, over the past 20 years investors would not have underperformed the stock market, by half, if they had not continually sold low bought high. If they would have maintained the discipline to stick to a prudent strategy they'd be doubling their money roughly every seven years according to the available statistics. No matter how complex or overwhelming the situation, it usually boils down to very simplistic decisions.

So as we grapple with the next few weeks of the tragedy in San Bernardino or , with what pales in comparison, our portfolios, pray for the victims, their families, the people who will be left to take care of them, our leaders, and yourself. Pray that you will have the courage to do what you know is the right thing to do, even when it seems as if you can't.

God Bless America!

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.

San Bernardino,

Chip Kelly & Investors-Impossible To Police Themselves

Chip Kelly & Investors-Impossible To Police Themselves

by: Brendan Magee

As painful as it is to come to grips with, it looks like the Eagle's season is going to go down in flames. I can't see the Eagles putting together a one game winning streak much less a six game winning streak. It's hard to believe we, the fans and head coach Chip Kelly, didn't see this coming. Kelly won twenty games in his first two seasons and seemed as though he was always a step ahead of the opposition. All he needed was to get his players on the roster and success seemed inevitable.

In hindsight, it seems as though this is where the Eagles problems started. In his first two seasons, Kelly worked under a general manager who evaluated the players Kelly would be given to coach. After last year, Kelly became the general manager and coach. He had complete authority to sign and keep the players that would be on the Eagles roster. Chip had all the power with no one to answer to or rebuke any of his decisions. By what we have seen on the field this year, it is pretty easy to see that Kelly's perspective was flawed. What he was seeing and said yes to when he signed free agents and drafted rookies hasn't translated to success on the field. It has been a disaster.

The coach needed a coach. He needed to entrust someone with the task of telling him that what he was seeing in a player, his scheme, or his vision for the roster was flawed. Without his permission what individual would have the gall to question the man in charge of their paycheck?

In order to give that individual the authority to question Chip's perspective, Chip would have needed an extraordinary amount of humility and wisdom. How many of us ever question our perspective? We are seeing things as they are, aren't we?

Whether it's a professional football team we are coaching or a retirement nest egg we are trying to grow, it is all driven by our perspective. Shady McCoy isn't hitting the hole fast enough, cut him. The market's going to crash, sell.

Think about all the noise there is in coaching a professional football team. You have 53 players, reporters, player's wives and girl friends, meetings, injuries, trades, your own life to deal with, etc. How easy would it be do get distracted, not hear something exactly as it was said or intended? How easy would it be to give into hidden biases that have been developed and hard wired over 30 to 40 years of your life? On top of that, you are Chip Kelly one of the best coaches in all of college football. You have never had a losing season in your life. You know football. It's your life.

Now think about investing. Think about all the noise investors have to deal with. The internet, cable television, your spouse, the guys at work, Google, etc. 24, 7, 365, investors are hit with news, information, and opinions as to what they should be doing with their money. Compound that with all the messages you heard about money and investing from parents, uncles, and friends. On top of that remember the 1990's. Your portfolio grew to over a million dollars. You know investing.

 "If I just read a little more, I can find the winning stocks or fund managers again. I know it." A bias can easily take over without an investor knowing it. The wrong decision can look like the right one. How does an investor, on their own, quiet down the noise in their head and focus on what is important?

The answer for Chip and investors is, you don't solve this problem on your own. You need help. Unfortunately, that help will not come until the coach or investor realizes they need help and can't do it on their own. As much as we would like to think we can, we cannot police our selves on our own. Instincts, emotions, perspectives, egos, etc. are just too powerful. A little humility will go a long way for the Eagles and Chip Kelly as it would for investors.


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.