…and 600 others was held at the Hartford Downtown Marriott yesterday and focused on the Econo-ME. Kristin Andree graciously extended the invitation to me and two other colleagues whom I was thrilled to meet: Dena Castricone, President of CABO and Trisha Gallagher of The Gallagher Group.
It felt good to dress up and hang out with another industry at an upscale venue. It broadens my perspective. The room was filled with men in suits, as this event was sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. John Schlifske, the Chairman and CEO, shared the dais with Steve Forbes and pitched the benefits of investing with Northwestern Mutual. “I paid for your lunch, so I get to do this,” he said tongue in cheek.
I thought I’d be out of my league in terms of the info being imparted, but I felt comfortable and intrigued. Here were a few of the notes I jotted down:
“Black Swan” (not the movie) – A term for something that happens in nature, but only rarely, like what’s going on now in Japan, for instance.
He said that we are experiencing the slowest recovery in the history of our country.
“Fear and greed ruin most people’s portfolios.”
He also recommended listening to your financial adviser as you would your personal trainer. They know what’s best for you, unlike your brother-in-law or friendly neighbor with a hot tip on the market.
“Don’t let your inbox dominate you. Be strategic rather than tactical.” (Or what I call being pro-active versus reactive.)
Here’s the last one which I need to chew on a bit: “Emotions are your enemy.”
Who wants to discuss that one?
When I trust my emotions (or what I would call intuition) as my true indicators when a decision has to be made, it’s usually the right, and more centered decision. In the business world, (or maybe the old business world), one would never openly admit making an important decision based on their emotions. I think the connotation is that little or no real thought went into making that decision, or the decision may have been made in a more self serving way when made from an emotional place. The bottom line is that I believe it’s more a label…and feel the best decisions are made when they are not only well thought out…but come from our gut.
@Jan
What you’re so beautifully pointing to here is alignment–when our guts and our minds come to the same conclusion. That’s glorious when it happens, but not always the case. I just heart Obama talking about trusting his gut re the recent killing of OBL. As he so eloquently put it, it’s nice when it works out.
Jane – the advice in this posting is spot-on. We just met with our financial adviser last week who said the same thing: we’re not going to buy or sell emotionally. Interestingly enough, the one stock we have that’s doing poorly is the one my husband wants to hang onto because of an emotional attachment. Our adviser dumps the dogs without letting his feelings get in the way.
Great advice!
Lisa
I agree with what John Schlifske was saying in terms of the emotions piece…but only in the context he meant it. He was referring to making decisions based on emotions when it comes to your investment portfolio.
Emotions can be our enemy when it comes to INVESTING! That is why he was advocating having a trusted adviser to help guide you (so you don’t do anything crazy like buy when things are too high or sell when things are too low!). As women, we follow our instincts of buying when things are are sale (we all know if that fabulous shoe goes on sale, we need to get it in every color!) – and we avoid those overpriced items at all cost … but when it comes to our stock portfolio, our emotions sometimes get the best of us & we make poor decisions without proper guidance.
With pretty much everything else though, I agree with you both — you gotta go with your gut! I am a firm believer in trusing your instincts. They don’t talk about “women’s intuition” for nothing! 🙂
Great post Jane (as always!).
@Lisa
Thanks for such a perfect example of the point being made.
@Kristin
Thanks for this clarification.