Forbes Coaches Council
Overcoming Battered Investor Syndrome
The last several months have been a challenging time across the United States due to Covid-19. It has caused changes in public safety, daily schedules and routines and negatively impacted the economy and job market. Those are some very visible effects of the pandemic that have played out on a daily basis since March.
What may not be as well-known is the toll it has taken on the stock market. While there have been some ups and downs and hopefully better days ahead, the coronavirus has hurt many stockholders in recent months. What many are experiencing now is what I call the Battered Investor Syndrome. That is a situation in which people give the power of their wealth-building and investments to others outside of their control: Wall Street.
I am suggesting that people take another look at their portfolio and think about investing more proactively than passively or reactively. I’m not saying that everybody should pull out of the stock market. I am saying, though, that you can make money in other ways.
Start a new business.
Whatever path you take, self-sufficiency through career ownership is a way to generally avoid waking up to the news that that stock market has just fallen by about 1,000 points and feeling like your chances of a solid retirement have just imploded.
Like any investment, it can take time to see it pay off. With a business, you have business taxes, debt repayment, payroll, inventory and many other expenses. Like the stock market, there will be some days of self-doubt. But when you take ownership over your career, you have greater control in providing yourself with the financial stability that we all crave.
When you are investing in other people’s businesses, you have to hope that you’ve made the right choices — and that others work hard enough to generate income for your retirement. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather bet on myself.
Embrace education.
Now may be the opportunity to ramp up your education, awareness and discovery of the possibilities available to you by connecting with a career ownership coach.
Spend time, not money.
Investments in yourself don’t have to involve spending money. Sometimes it can help to break free of old habits and create new ones. We all fall into patterns and ruts, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Routines make our lives easier. But if you aren’t happy with your life, clearly the routines and ruts you’ve developed aren’t working for you. Challenge yourself to start spending some of your time in a different way. You may just find that doing some things differently inspires you and motivates you to try something new with your career or to fix some other part of your life that you aren’t satisfied with.
Create a savings account — and a vision board.
Another excellent way of investing is to simply put more money in your savings account. One day, that account can be the tool you use to make more investments in yourself. Whether you start a business, jump into a new hobby, take education classes or purchase new books to start educating yourself in a new area that you want to explore, having enough money in a savings account is important.
Creating a vision board is even better. Looking at that vision board will likely give you the motivation to put more money into your savings account as the months and years go by, and when you’re ready to invest in yourself and fulfill your vision, you’ll have the money to do so.
It is fine to invest in the stock market if you would like. There’s nothing wrong with making money by putting money into other companies. Just don’t forget when you’re looking at your financial portfolio to invest in something even more important and with even more promise — yourself.