a piece for myself

Recently,I had an intense discussion with a friend (someone whom I respect alot) on my personal dreams and goals and I got a little upset because he was concerned that I would rely too much on forecasting the market and be caught off guard by what could actually happen, which by the way, would be entirely beyond prediction.

As always, all things happen for a reason and I bounced across this article by Carl Richards on how Investment Plans and Forecasts Don’t Mix and it mentioned, well, that forecasts about the future of the market are very likely to be wrong.

This drew me back to that intense conversation and got me to realise the reason for my being upset- it was not about the forecasting, it was not that I could not justify my personal/market views or enroll him in my ideas. It is about the idea of planning. It is about my life plan, the road map that I have set out for myself and which I want to follow.
And the conversation was frustrating because I felt that he doubted the idea of ‘planning’ (can you imagine how it goes against my belief on the importance for financial planning? I am a bloody financial planner!).

Anyway, now that my head’s clearer, I know I stand by what I believe – just because forecasting may not work does not mean that we leave everything to fate. Just because life is full of unexpected surprises does not mean that we do not even make guesses to put the odds in our favor. Because having a plan means that I will know where to bounce back to, if/when I make a few bad choices.

Same goes for life & investment. always back to basics:

• Figure out where you are today
• Make a guess about where you want to go
• Buy diversified, low-cost investments that have the best shot of getting there 
• Behave for a long time

that’s all folks. just a piece for myself and to continuously put the odds in my favor.

anyway, I really appreciate this friend of mine. It’s been long since I had a conversation like that and I get that it happened because he cared. All in all, a good reminder to the new year, that I gotta be on my toes and to always make the better choices for myself.