Investment Advice for Troubled Times

In reading the Sunday New York Times this past weekend (all sections, from first to last page – a weekend ritual I thoroughly enjoy), I came across a book review that spoke to me and I thought, “Wow! This would be a perfect post for the blog.” Then Monday came, and as I managed through the day with my own feelings of bewilderment, wonder, shock, deep concern, worry, anger, frustration, compassion (particularly for the workers of Lehman Brothers as they walked out of their Wall Street offices with boxes in hand and no job to return to) and, yes, admittedly, some fear, I thought to myself, “I need a word;” something to reconnect me to the truth of who we really are and the infinite resources we have access to – the true nature of our universe.

I needed something to remind me that the limitations of human action in this life do not define the truth of who we are, nor do they define the value of all that we truly possess. An unhealthy identification with the current financial crisis only serves to separate us from the infinite resources that exist for us and invite more of the same into our lives: “I am poor;” “I have no resources;” “My resources are tanking;” “I have no money;” “I don’t have enough;” “I am not enough;” “I am afraid,” etc. And we neither need nor want nor can we afford any more of the same (to paraphrase President Obama – yes, I said President!!). So, I figured if I needed a word, maybe someone else out there needed one to. Thus, I will save the book review post for another day. For today, I think some ‘investment advice’ may be in order.

A. Maintain a balanced & diversified portfolio…of joy

Matthew 6:21 of the New Testament says that “For where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.” Your treasure is that which you hold dear and that which you hold dear will be your joy. Do you know what brings you joy? Is it success? How do you define success? Is it by how many things you have; how big your house is; whether or not you have a house; how much money you have? If success is what brings you joy, and that success is based primarily on material possession (and, therefore, by extension, based on the money that allows you to possess that material), what happens to your joy when your ability to possess material is threatened; or worse, taken away? Will there just simply be no joy to be had for you?

Any investment planner worth her/his salt tells you that maintaining a diversified & balanced portfolio is the most prudent, financially, and will serve you best in the long-term. So it would seem the same is true for how we build and access joy in our lives. We do ourselves an immense disservice when we settle for material success as the very limited and fleeting version of joy that it is. I mean really, we all know you can’t take the stuff with you (don’t we?). And each of us likely knows one miserable person too many who may lack many things, but material possession is not one of them. But for those of us who succeed in establishing multiple sources of enduring joy beyond money and material possession; who seek our treasure in the quality of our relationships, personal growth, faith, community, family, service, connectedness, smiles, laughter and love – we are able to draw upon those treasures particularly when the limited and fleeting versions of joy leave us wanting. How diversified is your portfolio of joy? Could some reallocation be in order?

B. Be risk averse….to limitations for you and your life

We are well-advised to recognize that all financial investments involve some risk, or so the saying (warning) goes. And, as such, we are further advised that our investment strategy should take into account our own personal tolerance of that risk. Some of us are completely risk averse; some are extreme risk-takers – most of us are somewhere in between.

However, when it comes to your ‘treasure,’ your heart, your joy, your life, you - I would advise that your investments be completely risk averse to any notion of limit. The moment we accept that there is a limit to the amount and kind of joy we can have in our lives; a limit to the kind of lives we can have; a limit to who we can be in this life - the universe obliges itself to respond accordingly. Likewise, when we accept, are open to and welcome the limitlessness of who we can be, the kind of lives we can have and the amount of joy that is available to us, the universe obliges itself and responds accordingly.

So, besides the obvious (for example, who wouldn’t want unlimited joy in their life?), why is it important that we be risk averse to notions of limit? When we embrace the very idea of limit, immediately a door closes; a window shuts and we lose opportunities for what it is we really desire and value. And when we do that, we leave ourselves subject to the vagaries of human action in this life as if those represent the sole definition of who we are and what we can be. Such risk aversion tells us, definitively, that what we may have lost today, has no bearing on what we will gain tomorrow; that what we don’t have today in no way determines what we will have tomorrow. Being risk averse to notions of limited joy, limited lives and limited beingness, goes hand-in-hand with maintaining a diversified & balanced portfolio of joy – if we are to rise above, survive and thrive through the vagaries of human action that define these very troubled times.

Be balanced and diversified in your joy. Be risk averse to limitation. BE ILLUMINED!