What NOT To Do When Things Aren't Going Our Way Show 66

On Labor Day I ran the Reedy River 10k with my buddy Greg. I’m glad I committed to run it because I was dreading it! It’s hard to back out when you’ve told somebody you’ll be there. When we registered, the form asked what we anticipated our completion time to be, and I must have been thinking I could fly.

We were placed in the first heat to take off, and after about a thousand yards, I was thinking there was no way I would be able to maintain this pace. So, for the next 6.2 miles, I could almost hear a vacuum sucking me to the back of the pack.

It’s easy to see people passing me and become dissatisfied. I’ve found that when I begin comparing myself to other runners who may have a “runner’s body” or have other perceived advantages, it’s easy to get sulky. But what good does that do? After all, I heard it once said that the death of contentment is comparison.

Sometimes when people meet with me after we’ve talked about their accounts, they ask how their money compares to other people. I’m always careful to answer this question.

I think they are asking a deeper question than they sometimes may even realize. I’ve found normally what they are concerned about is do I have enough to retire. It’s easy when you don’t feel like you have enough money to become discontent, but it’s self-defeating. The better perspective may be to ask, “How can I make my money last as long as possible?”

The absolute wrong perspective is to feel like you should aggressively invest because you don’t have enough time or want to increase your money quickly. We hear that from folks with differing amounts of money. Remember, just because we perceive something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s completely accurate.

The flip side of this is called “overconfidence bias.” From a website called Toptal, “Outside of finance, in a 1980 study, 70-80% of drivers reported themselves to be in the safer half of the distribution. Multiple studies – of doctors, lawyers, students, CEOs – have also found these individuals to have unrealistically positive self-evaluations and overestimations of contributions to past positive outcomes. While confidence can be a valuable trait, it can also lead to biased investing decisions.” Obviously, there is a fine balance between feeling like you don’t have enough money and feeling like you are set no matter what comes your way. 

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