Ever notice how some people pour over their financial portfolios? They regularly check their stocks and funds to determine the rate on their return. If over time they notice that a given strategy is diminishing in its effectiveness, they make adjustments, transferring funds from one account to another, always with the end goal of optimizing their total value. They rely on the sage advice of experts or other trusted advisors that have themselves been successful in the market. “Why make all these decisions on my own, when there’s people smarter than me in this particular area?”, they might ask. It can be summarized as follows:
- The long term value of an investment is often determined by managing the short-term climate effectively
- The investment that is attended to will always outperform the investment that is ignored
- Take a long view of your investment, don’t panic or flee when natural, short term declines occur
- What has worked in the past is not guaranteed to always work in the future, always adapt to current conditions and adjust your investment as needed to hit your long term goals
- Ensure you have sound advisors around you, sometimes they will see your investment choices from a very different perspective than you do
This is clearly an important area in our lives. I drive by at least five different brokers / financial advisors on my short drive to work each day. If their services weren’t so highly valued, they wouldn’t all be there.
What if our culture valued marriage to the same degree? Take a look at the above list, and substitute the word marriage for the word investment. Does that seem as obvious as the original list? Can you argue with any of the points? Maybe it’s time we expand our sense of self-worth beyond the financials to other key areas of our lives… Maybe even to marriage.