It’s Your Money, You Are The Boss!

Are you the kind of person who would, if bumped in a theater lobby by someone rude, say, “Excuse me” or “I’m sorry,” when it’s not your fault?

I believe that you should be a squeaky brake disc, that you should be a strong advocate with your doctors, lawyers, and especially with your money managers.  I have spoken to people (some friends, some just strangers met on LinkedIn) who also have money with a hedge fund manager.  They cannot read their statements, which seem to be purposefully incoherent.  They seem to be ‘okay’ with this notion that they don’t need to understand everything and that it adds to the mystique of it all.  They’re reluctant to ask for explanations, not wanting to seem unsophisticated.  I say that if someone who wants to manage your money cannot explain his or her philosophy in a simple paragraph, then you shouldn’t let him or her manage that money.  And if those who do manage your money cannot simply explain their own statements to you, then you are probably headed for a sad experience.

It’s your money; always remember that.  Money managers tend to think that, once the funds are deposited, it’s their money and the clients are nothing more than an annoyance.  Cure them of this notion.  Call them once a month or at least visit the brokerage site to see how your funds are doing. 

As a growing company, we believe that the best ideas come from clients, from their interaction with the world and that we want them to check in if they have any bright ideas that could help produce superior returns. 

Money and Your Purpose in Life

I thought I’d start the week with something fun (talking about money), and some of you may be wondering what purpose in life has to do with money.  Because purpose is a strategy that we use to express our important values, it follows that our use of money is one of the important ways to express these values.  Money is very, very flexible, with an infinite ways to earn it and spend it.  Your wealth at any point is the end result of millions of earning and spending decisions.  If you live in an industrialized nation, you will probably earn more than $1 million in your lifetime.  The decisions about how you earn this fortune, and spend it, are determined by your purpose in life.

Most often, people who are living paycheck to paycheck have an unconsciously chosen purpose for money that is something like “Money is to live on” or “Money is to buy the things I need.”  Because money responds to the commands of the mind, the external financial experience of these people confirms to their internal thinking about it.

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then the decisions about how to use your money are made by the bills you pay each month.  This situation makes it impossible to take charge of your money.  You have unintentionally turned over your prerogatives as your own financial manager to your creditors and to your letter carrier who delivers the bad news each month.  Additionally, when bills exhaust all of your income, you are protected from making a mistake, perhaps unconsciously, thinking something like, “I used all my money to pay my bills.  That’s the best thing to do with it.”

For many people the prospect of dramatically increased income is frightening.  As they lack a clear purpose for their life or their money, the possibility of greater income usually brings up anxiety about loss or making mistakes.  Having a noble and consciously chosen purpose provides you with a framework for making decisions about the effective use of your growing income. 

Affirmations to Help Improve Our State of Mind

Personally, I’ve had little trouble with the subject of affirmation for many years.  When I first began looking for ways to improve my trading outside of market-related factors in my college years, I initially found affirmations somewhat silly.  However, affirmations are a form of meditation and visualization and can help us to see our true potential.  Affirmations are vitally important to become successful in all areas of our lives.  I now believe that almost every successful person has some sort of affirmation tool that they use on a daily basis, even if they don’t call it “affirmation.”

Affirmations are a pep talk of self-esteem to help keep stress in check, allow us greater emotional intelligence and awareness, and ultimately result in a healthy ego.

This morning, on my way to the office, the radio station I like to listen to had on a little contest where they took random callers and they would ask them to give a “pep” talk to a team.  This isn’t just one of those, “Let’s be positive, go get ‘em Tigers chant.”  No, it’s more like, “Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens is injured and he has been put on the bench the entire season,” and the caller is the person replacing Ray Lewis!  So in 15 seconds or less, say what you need to say to the Ravens, just as Ray Lewis would!

I’ve only gotten a chance to hear one caller, an elderly woman from Baltimore, and the call when something like this:

Radio DJ:  “You have 15 seconds to get the Ravens ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers!, Ready, Set Go"!”

Caller:  “Okay…team.  Let’s get ready, we have to win…um…”

And, before she could calmly produce the next word, a loud buzz came on followed by laughter in the background!

Radio DJ: “If that’s what Ray Lewis says to the Ravens, I’d move to Pittsburgh and be a Steelers fan!”

The woman only wanted to win the Ravens tickets they were giving away, and I doubt she did with that monotone pep talk.  But, all of us often give ourselves uninspiring, energy-less self-talk.  Or worse, negative self-talk.  So, like Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, put some oomph behind those words and follow it up with a massive hit to the upper body area!