Tremendous power is unleashed when people come together to discuss ideas and explore solutions to difficult problems. How many times has a problem stumped us for days, but when we spoke to someone about it, the problem got resolved within minutes? Or how many times have we felt confident about a topic, but when we discussed it with other people, the holes in our thinking got quickly exposed? Good conversations challenge our ideas, refine our thinking, and help us embrace sound principles.
I believe more people across America should be having conversations about investing. It seems the topic has been relegated to the background, and I often wonder if the financial industry has some role to play in this because they collect so much money from managing other people's money. Most schools put forth a modest effort to teach kids about investing, but they don't emphasize it the same as they do with math, science, English, and history.
I find it interesting that the message promoted throughout society is, don't worry about learning how to invest yourself, just hand that responsibility over to strangers who will have your best interests at heart.
NBA star Kevin Garnett did that, and it cost him $77 million.
Video from CNBC
Just to be clear, I have no problems with people hiring advisors to help them manage their money. Like the Bible says,
Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
Proverbs 11:14 NKJV
I only have a problem with people being encouraged to remain clueless about how to invest their money. When doing a real estate deal, I will never prepare the contract, but I know enough about contracts to debate with attorneys about the best path forward. By the end of our debate, the best outcome is created for all the parties involved.
Having a Community
From what I have seen, being part of a non-intimidating environment where people can talk about investing can be easy to find in some communities, but impossible to find in others.
I believe it is important for people to not only read books and take classes on investing, but to also find communities where they can talk about it. Finance is a language that requires practice, and like learning any new language, the more we speak it, the better we will understand it.
Conversation In Our Communities
By coming together with people in our communities to discuss our lives, the events in our neighborhoods, and all things finance, we not only develop closer bonds with our fellow man, but we also build a wall against nefarious characters.
A few days ago, my neighbor told me about an insurance product people were telling them to get, but since I wasn’t familiar with the product, I checked with Chat GPT and Dave Ramsey for some background information. Our quick research showed that the product was not all sunshine, and it had some flaws that were never mentioned to my friend. Through our simple conversation, my friend learned about the hidden layers of the insurance product, and they got introduced to Dave Ramsey. Our conversation helped them avoid an expensive financial mistake.
A few weeks earlier, my other friend's landlord wanted to raise their rent by an obscene amount. Nervous about the situation, my friend called me to discuss their options. By the end of our conversation, we realized the landlord was a big-time liar, and it was illegal for them to raise the rent to the high amount they demanded. When my friend presented the landlord with their research, the landlord quickly backed off, and agreed to raise their rent by a much lower amount. Because of our simple conversation, my friend was able to fight against an unscrupulous landlord and get their rent increased by only a nominal amount.
Have More Conversations
More conversations mean more knowledge, and the more knowledge we share, the more power we have to fight against those determined to victimize us.
Start talking with people in your community about investing. The conversation doesn't need to be complex or sound overly sophisticated. It just needs to start and never stop.
Stay strong, stay blessed, and God willing, I will see you next week.
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Proverbs 18:1 ESV
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