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The latest FWB TV investing video is now available by clicking on the linked title here: When it comes to investing you are often your own worst enemy. That’s Benjamin Graham pictured above. The four-minute video — which is also archived at Findependence.TV — describes the hazards of investing when you’re under stress, or when a surge of testosterone raises your confidence more than may be prudent. Or as the comic strip character Pogo once famously pronounced: “We have the met the enemy and it is us.” Below is additional commentary by FWB TV’s Paul Philip:
By Paul Philip
Special to the Financial Independence Hub
Human beings are not hard wired to make good financial decisions. It’s a fact. We are emotional beings and are affected continually by the news around us. Most investors react exactly the opposite to what they should do when their investments inevitably fluctuate.
They sell when they drop, are frustrated and upset, then eventually get their confidence back and buy when markets have already recovered. Fear and greed are their overriding decision-makers. This is not good for long-term well being. Too many people live their investing lives like hamsters on a wheel, running faster and faster and getting nowhere.
Successful investing is about controlling what you can. You can’t control what the market does, but you can control what you do in response. In my experience, a person’s returns depend less on whether they pick great investments than on whether they can manage their emotions.
Paul Philip is president of Financial Wealth Builders Securities, a team of independent wealth advisors providing holistic financial planning, investments and strategies to well informed Canadians. Visit www.fwbsecurities.com for more investor education and resources.
