Smart people don’t just make lemonade out of the ever flowing life’s lemons. They make money out of dates, especially those that have gone bad. If you are the kind of a person who tries as much as possible to squeeze lessons out of whatever life throws at you, then you will understand how dating teaches us valuable lessons about investing. Some people might disagree, but dating is an investment for all parties involved. Valuables like time and emotion are put into years of being with someone. So what lessons do financial advisers propose that we should pick up from dating?
1. Don’t give it up on the first date
It’s nothing about morality. It’s just about taking care of your money. Relationships advisers tell us to hold on to the cherry for a while, nurture meaningful and stronger foundations for relationships, and then maybe…maybe we will give it up. You cannot afford to jump in bed the first thing with every financial adviser that comes calling. Yes he is a nice guy and all, but whatever he is selling, don’t you think you need to scrutinize first and figure? Treat your money like you treat your body
2. Cut the losers. Ride the winners
Don’t hang on thinking that it is going to be different with you, or you are going to turn the loser into the winner. Take the loser as he is. Don’t dare ride him with your money. Naïve girls want to believe that he will change for them. But if he is a loser, forever a loser he will be. It pays to be a little optimistic in your approach sometimes. But when it comes to money, put your feelings aside, cut the losers and ride the winners. It is a game of money. Nothing personal!
3. A little diversification is good
A mixture of everything is always good for you. Diversify your investments. Disaster could strike. Don’t just load up in one sector or stock. Think polygamy, but the good kind.
4. Complicated is not necessarily effective
In dating, it is the simple things that matter the most. It is never the complexity of things. Even when we remember, we remember the most trivial, and that’s what makes most relationships beautiful. Like curling up on the sofa for a movie on a cold Sunday afternoon, then falling asleep to the movie. Most successful investors are said to be the ones with the simplest of portfolios. Those that spend hours and hours, buried in complicated charts, dissecting balance sheets endlessly are not necessarily the most successful.
5. Costs
It does matter how much money you put in a relationship. It costs you. Dates cost money. So do gifts. At some point, you need to think of how much cost you are putting into it and how much of it is coming back to you. It’s a rough world. Figures need to balance. It is essential for investment success.
6. Don’t judge the book by its cover
First impressions are always good. But let not his suit or his office lead you astray. It could be a ploy to get you hooked, and without realizing it, your heart is deeply mangled somewhere in a well polished wreck. Anyone who is trying to convince you to invest will of course prepare a pitch. It will have promising rates of return. But this is your money we are talking about. Don’t let a well diagramed book cheat you into throwing money around. Peep beyond the cover and see what the pages have. Then make a decision.
So, put your money where you would put your heart.
Adapted from Market Watch