When I walk past my son’s school playing field it often looks like a chaotic scene; primary school children from 4 to 11 all running around screaming and shouting excitedly.
To the untrained eye it looks like there is no order or organisation but to the children involved they are all playing different games according to agreed rules; some are playing football, others off-ground ‘it’ and the ‘floor is lava’. Others still using their imagination on the play equipment. They are playing their own games and barely notice anything else going on around them.
When it comes to us adults and our money we could do worse than learning from these playground scenes. We succumb to playing other people’s games and question why we don’t end up with a desirable outcome:
- We take our investment tips from relatives or golfing partners,
- We see the FTSE 100 rising by X% and question why we are only getting Y% with our portfolio.
- We hear about people making a killing with cryptocurrencies and think we should be
investingspeculating too. - We look at our outwardly wealthy neighbours and wish that was our life.
- We listen to the ‘experts’ who tell us when to get in and out of the markets.
- We aren’t prepared to wait for the returns to come to us.
- We believe a property is investing utopia because everyone else is doing it but don’t consider the real costs.
- We read the financial press and believe they are writing in our best interest.
When it comes to your money the only game is the one that is best for you and that is played by your rules which are aimed at helping you achieve your unique financial and lifetime objectives.
