Immediate apologies to those readers in the Middle East, where the reminder of roast dinner smothered in mum’s gravy is likely not welcome.
Many of our team have spent years in the desert, minds meandering dearly back to Sunday lunches but instead delivering financial support to expats in similar positions to you.
Please don’t hastily disregard this post for its whimsical slant, we’re talking about half price roasts, it’s an easy way to understand the financial markets. Obviously, ahem…. Plus you may find it brings a smile in these times of worry.
Investments, (or as we call them at obvio; savings), are an inherent part of life. If we want our money to work as hard for us, as we have for it, then we need to take some calculated decisions on where and how we place our money. The markets go up, the markets go down and over time, the markets tend to go up. But unfortunately, finance is pretty much the only industry which has a massive Sale and everyone runs away, and this seems to be the case at the moment. Markets have a 35% discount.
For example, if your butcher promoted a half-price sale for a roasting joint, then there’s a very good chance you’d buy more than normal. Why? Because it’s cheaper, obviously. Ironically, exactly the opposite happens in financial markets.
If you read the newspaper and see the markets have fallen, what do most people do? They sell and run away! Total and utter lunacy, but nonetheless, the endemic behaviour of investors following a herd mentality. If there’s a sale on surely it would make sense to buy more while it’s cheaper?
Now of course we can get into the deeper discussion of not liking a roast, or indeed not liking a particular investment, but that’s a different conversation. Rule of thumb and common sense dictates that, if there’s something you like and it’s cheap or on a quick-fire-sale, buy more of it.
obvio doesn’t profess to be fortune tellers, we openly admit that it’s easier to punch smoke than predict the markets. But one thing we do know is that selling when things are cheap and buying when things are expensive is just silly. We can’t control the markets, but we can help clients control their behaviour to the markets.
If you think you might find obvio’s approach to financial planning a refreshing palate cleanser, then feel free to download our brochure, browse our website or call us on 0041 43 508 0219 or book a Discovery Session with one of our Planners today.