Practical Lessons for Your Financial Life (Collection)

Holding on While Getting Ahead

Investors sometimes get focused on only one side of the equation: making money. They can lose sight of what’s far more important: not losing it. Focusing on keeping the money is like an emergency brake on your emotions. If you pulled this brake more often, would you be less inclined to make errors? Knowing what you have as a goal can also slow down your spending, especially if it’s impulsive or extravagant. If you can hold onto what you have, you can keep moving forward. If you lose it, you’re relegated to “getting back to where you were,” and this means climbing out of a hole. Sometimes you can never get back. For example, in 2008 the key to successful investing was to lose as little as possible. Those investors ...