No One Ever Told Us That: Money and Life Lessons for Young Adults

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

GETTING TO PEACE OF MIND

When it comes to your money, sleeping through the night perhaps is more important than anything else, even more important to many people than seeing your money grow. One of our primary goals for our clients, particularly in this era of anxiety, is to get them to that sleeping point.

We all have had what I call the “Oh, my Gods,” when we wake at 3 AM obsessed with certain demons that plague all of us: family, health issues, business fears, and relationships. We tell prospective clients, “Whatever you have night sweats about, we want to make sure, wherever possible, that it isn't about your money.”

But it is your money, not your wealth manager's. We are all subject to irrational behavior, and I have to listen to my clients and give them the options. Their decisions may not be rational. They may even be stupid decisions, very much not in their own economic best interests.

Your job with your own money is to try to talk yourselves out of the stupid moves.

A dear friend of mine has kept seven figures in money funds for five years, more than 30 percent of his liquid assets. Fear of meltdown and the daily slog of terrible news has him in a frozen position, willing to accept virtually no income on his money funds. I recently gave him one last try, pointing out how much money he had cost himself in one of the best times in history to really create net worth.

“The point is that I can sleep nights, not worrying about the money I may have cost myself,” ...