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.

Malcolm Jenkins, Concussions, & Investor Instincts

Malcolm Jenkins & Investor Instincts

by: Brendan Magee

I know I am a week late on this, but today I would rather write about the aftermath of the Eagle's game vs Dallas as opposed to yesterday's vs the Dolphins. Last week, as weary as we were from a late night game, we were all thrilled that the Eagles pulled out a win in overtime and, finally, seemed to have put the season on the right track. Today, boy do we all know different.  

One of the subplots coming out of Dallas was that safety Malcolm Jenkins played a the majority of the game with a concussion. Eagle's fans applaud Jenkins for his toughness and doing what it took to win the game. Just about everyone else, with all that has been discovered about the dangers of concussions, say Jenkins was crazy for risking his health and well being by not telling the medical staff what he was dealing with.

No one doubts the toughness of professional football players. They kill themselves week after week, but they also play with the fear that today's game could be their last. They could get hurt or someone better can come along and take their jobs. In a moment, there goes the contract and financial security. To last in that game, you have to have a real knack for survival, and sometimes that instinct works against the player. Be it a football player or an everyday human being, we all have instincts. We were born with them and they operate without our permission. Pain, pleasure, survival are amongst the strongest instincts we have.

Touch a hot stove, pain makes sure you never do that again. Pleasure makes certain that this weekend's cheese steak will not be your last. The thought of coming out of a game, letting the medical staff know you have a concussion, being forced to leave the game, perhaps needing to sit out the next few week's worth of games and maybe seeing your back up take your job is pretty painful. Under normal circumstances, and if it happened to be happening to someone else, your instincts would be telling you to get to a doctor.

The choices aren't so clear when your livelihood might be hanging in the balance. This is why as much as possible the National Football League is taking the decision as to whether or not a player stays in the game after sustaining a blow to the head out of the players and coaches hands.

When it comes to the long-term health of the players it doesn't bode well to rely on the instincts of the player. They have been conditioned to get on the field and play no matter how painful the injury might be. Instincts might be considered a player's worst enemy. The same can be said for investors.

No matter the investment advertisement or commentary have you ever heard a word about watching out for your own instincts? Have you ever heard Jim Cramer say that as far as your instincts are concerned, you have little to no shot at policing your instincts and emotions? Have you ever heard any investment analyst talk about how they can use your instincts to work against your best interests? The answer to all these questions is a big fat "No." As a result investors have very little appreciation for the role and the impact their instincts have on their investment decisions and behavior. They cannot even start to be accountable for them.

You wake up to headlines screaming that China's stock market is in a free fall. You have money invested overseas. "Holy ####! Pain! I got to call my broker and sell everything I have in international stocks." Cramer comes on and plays up the latest can't miss stock. "My portfolio is in the tank. If this keeps up I'm sunk." Pain!  "Let's go all in on company XYZ." Scenarios occur like this everyday and are too numerous to count.


Just like Jenkins knows a concussion isn't anything to play with and needs proper medical attention,  investors know they should not sell low/ buy high. They know diversification is the cornerstone for prudent investing. However, instincts in the blink of an eye can over power prudent behavior and put you on a crash course for disaster. The same guy who said one more beer or slice of pizza won't kill you is the same guy dealing with congestive heart failure. "Damn didn't that pizza taste good!"

I've heard the more you resist the more things persist. Perhaps, the solution for football players and investors is to admit how overpowering their instincts and emotions truly are. Perhaps even more so, they need to admit they are powerless in dealing with their instincts. Hence, they need help. As far as their football careers and financial security are concerned, both investors and players would be better served if they put the task of policing their instincts in the hands of someone they trust. 


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

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.

Investors, If You Can Predict The Future, You Don't Need To Diversify

Diversification, Not Needed If You Can Predict The Future

by: Brendan Magee

Investors spend a great deal of time dealing with uncertainty. What will the market do this year? What are the winning stocks going to be? What are the losing stocks going to be? When is the next crash coming, and when should I get out of the market? These are just a few of the many uncertainties investors have to deal with on an everyday basis. Some turn to professionals to handle the job and some do it themselves with the help of what ever research they think best.

Let me tell you who doesn't have to deal with any of this, people who can predict the future. If you know what is going to happen tomorrow, next month, the next year, the next 20 years, you have no uncertainty to deal with. Matter of fact, if you know what is going to happen in the future you have no uncertainty at all. You know what and when it is going to happen.

Imagine for a second if you were one of those people. What would your life be like? How much money would you be making on a consistent basis, if you knew when the next market crash was coming? How much would you be worth if you knew who and when the next Microsoft was going to pop up. You would be worth trillions. Work would be a thing of the past. What ever you wanted, when ever you wanted it,would be at your finger tips. You could have a tremendous impact on any cause or charity you deemed worthy. Politicians would be calling on you to support their candidacy and you could play a major role in the political landscape of the world. Sounds good doesn't it!

Now, how many of us actually believe/know we can predict the future on a consistent basis? If you are in your right mind, you would not stand up and say you have this super human skill. By the way, if you did, there's nothing wrong with that. You could do a lot of good for the world and yourself. Predicting the future just isn't one of the skills the Good Lord blessed us mortals with. However, how many of us go about our investing as if we or someone else can predict the future? Many more than would actually admit it.

How many of us believe, we or someone else, can spot a trend in the market? Lots of people.  I talk to investors every day, and read and listen to countless analysts on television on a daily basis. Based on what they have read and seen they tell us what is going to be happening in the stock market. When you take away the fluff, they are telling us or themselves they can predict the future. Their actions, though, betray their beliefs.

Case in point, a woman I was talking to this week told me she could predict the future. She knew what the trends were and based on that she knew which stocks to invest in. She told me she had a portfolio of some 30 stocks and ten mutual funds in her portfolio, but I had a question. I asked her if she knew what stocks were going to do well, why she needed to have 30 as well as 10 mutual funds? Why would you need a broker? Why couldn't she just every year pick the the stock that was going to be the top performing stock and invest all her money in that one stock?

 Imagine how wealthy you would be if every year you owned the top performing stock? Bill Gates would be your neighbor. Her reply, "That wouldn't be diversified." No kidding! Now what she or anyone else with her ability to consistently predict the future is failing to see is, if you can predict the future you don't need diversification. There isn't any risk of uncertainty if you can predict the future.

The lesson here is this. If you cannot and you know that you, nor anyone else, can predict the future don't do any thing with your money based on someone's predictions (This means yours as well). Learn what diversification really is and how it truly works. Now, if  you can predict the future and have a 50 year history that backs up that ability, please call me and I will give you every dime I own and ask you to let me benefit from your superhero powers.I will gladly cut you in on a portion of the profits.


Brendan Magee is the owner and founder 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.