Keep your life exciting and your money boring!

Helping others to live better lives for themselves.

About two years ago, Harvard Property Management, which manages and owns the building where our office is located approached me to do a photo shoot as they wanted to show case some of their tenants. They were looking for unique locations to shoot from for their billboard campaign and so I thought, well why not go up to the roof? Now 31 stories may not seem to too impressive for any readers in Vancouver or Toronto, but in Winnipeg at that time this was the highest you could go! The joke of course is that I could see all the way to Regina from there… Now I’ve never been really afraid of heights but being up that high certainly makes you re-think a few things as you stare down at the micro machine cars whizzing by. I obviously enjoyed the experience so much that this upcoming Tuesday I will be rappelling down the side of the MB Hydro building, 272 feet to be exact, to help raise funds for Manitobans living with disabilities. I figure that if you are going to do something a bit crazy and certainly unique, you might as well do it while helping others to live better lives for themselves as well!

This recent experience, as I have been preparing for my rappel down the building I have been reminded of something that was said to me early on in my career by an older advisor. “You should keep your life exciting and your money boring.” I have been thinking about that a lot lately especially as we continue to experience heightened market volatility. Certainly seeing market values drop is not fun for anyone, but what also comes with it is a lack of confidence in your ability to do things that you might have done otherwise. For example, if your investment portfolio is down you might be more reluctant to book that big vacation you have been dreaming of because your investments are $50,000 lower than they were at the start of the year or more. This of course takes nothing into account for a market rebound but that’s not the way most people think as it relates to their money. When things are down they always feel like they are going to be down.  But looking at this from my point of view, in understanding how markets work, is far from the biggest problem I see. In my mind, the biggest problem is in the lost time which can never be recovered. When someone loses confidence to live the life they would choose for themselves because they are less confident in their personal finances, they miss out on opportunities that will never recover, unlike the markets. The question becomes, what can you do to ensure this doesn’t happen to you?

The Short Answer

The short answer is simply… keep your investments boring! That obviously means different things for different people and as always you need to consider multiple factors when designing your investment portfolio including, what rate of return you need to be successful and or course your comfort levels for volatility. What I would suggest is that, if this market volatility you have experienced this year has forced you to push off any of your goals then there is considerations that should be made in your plan and perhaps your portfolio design. After all, the most wasted resource on the planet is time, and I would hate to see you miss out on your opportunity.

 For anyone interested in seeing more about my “plunge” down the side of a high rise building, feel free to visit https://drop-zone-manitoba.raisely.com/grant-white and stay tuned for more footage! I’ll try and keep my screaming to a minimum.

- Grant White, CIM®,CFP®

Grant White is a Portfolio Manager/Investment Advisor at Endeavour Wealth Management with iA Private Wealth Inc, an award-winning office as recognized by the Carson Group. Together with his partners he provides comprehensive wealth management planning for business owners, professionals and individual families. This information has been prepared by Grant White who is a Portfolio Manager for iA Private Wealth Inc. and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of iA Private Wealth.

The information contained in this newsletter comes from sources we believe reliable, but we cannot guarantee its accuracy or reliability. The opinions expressed are based on an analysis and interpretation dating from the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. Furthermore, they do not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned. The information contained here in may not apply to all types of investors. The Portfolio Manager can open accounts only in the provinces in which they are registered.