Investing Under the Influence

Many moons ago, I sat at my desk a defeated and disillusioned young man. Success, as I defined it my mind at the time, was more elusive than I had expected. Looking back it was just the naivete and idealism of a privileged 20 something, but at the time, it was really hard to accept.

    I called one of my mentors, a former professor of mine who had, for some reason, taken a special interest in me.  He listened as I prattled on about what all I had done, how hard I had worked, how no one seemed to care. Somewhere in the middle of my self pity, he interrupted me and said, "Scott, what are you reading these days?"  

    I named a book or two, a magazine I subscribed to. "Okay," he said," my advice to you is to watch what you read."  That was it. He gave no further explanation, he simply explained that he cared for me, and I needed to watch what I read, then he hung up and left me to reflect on that.  

    To this day, I continue to reflect  By instructing me to be mindful of what I read, he was not telling to stop reading, but to be aware of the balance of what I read because what we consume influences.  It influences our expectations, our decisions, our beliefs, even our values.  To read (or watch, or listen)  to only one side or view or perspective of anything is to have our expectations, decisions, beliefs, or values disfigured. There is never just one side to anything.

“To read (or watch, or listen) to only one side or view or perspective of anything is to have our expectations, decisions, beliefs, or values disfigured.”

    I share this story because too many times we make important decisions about our finances and investments without identifying what is actually influencing those decisions. We are literally investing under the influence. What my mentor was saying to me was if  you only consume one vantage point, then you become skewed and ill equipped to truly judge the merits of what may be influencing you.

   I thought of this as I watched an "influencer" on some social media platform railing away about the ills of investing in a 401(k) while promoting the promises of whole life insurance.  I thought of this, as I listened to a bond fund manager, instilling fear about the future course of the stock market. I thought of this, as I read a stock picker, promoting the next pump and dump company with a month to date chart that would instill FOMO (fear of missing out) for "soon to be broke" day trader.  I thought of this as yet another "crypto-bro" pushed Bitcoin as the future of currency, another champion of gold make scary claims about inflation or another political hack demonize someone who stood on the opposite aisle.

    Critical thinking has truly become a past time it seems. It is just too hard and too slow for a society that craves a hot take instead of a reasoned, informed position.  It is tragically poetic for a world that craves the viral that we actually caught a virus.  Be careful what you wish for, be mindful of what you consume. 

   Nothing is certain and few things are black and white.  Take the time to truly reflect on what is influencing you and don't fear saying, you just don't know.  The world could use a little more humility