Investment Advice

We have all been there. You buy a stock at $20, sell it at $28 and enjoy a steak dinner with your 40% returns. The next day, the stock is selling at $40. If only you held the stock just a little bit longer. . .   

Then you go and buy stock A. You dad told you to buy stock B but you know better. Stock A goes up a little bit so you call your dad. He says, “Great! Sell it and buy more of stock B.” You don’t listen. Instead, you buy more of your stock and watch it tumble 25%.  

A few months later, stock B has doubled in value. You say to yourself, “Why didn’t I use my head and listen to dad?” 

Investing has little to do with hard work, even less to do with intelligence.  

It’s about patience. It’s about reigning in your emotions – especially when passions are running high.  

I used to talk to my dad about stocks. At times, I had an idea I wasn’t so sure about and he would tell me to go for it. Other times I would have that “sure thing” and he would tell me to stay away.  

“Son, it’s not the idea that concerns me. It’s the tone of your voice and the look on your face. The wrong part of you is in control right now. Even if you win, you will lose in the long run. I have seen it too many times. If you can rein yourself in, you will be good at this.” 

I never listened. I couldn’t control myself. That is why he retired after a 47-year career on Wall Street and I am working in hi-tech. To succeed, you have to control your heart, your desire, and your obsessions.  

Emotion blinds us and we wind up making the wrong choices.  

We go for the “sure thing right now” and wind up holding tons of cooper when we could have been holding pounds of gold.  

Fool’s Gold 

The physical world is pure speculation.  

It doesn’t pay steady dividends because nothing is guaranteed. It’s all about the short-term gains.  

Take the ultimate physical pleasure that the entire world is obsessed over. You dedicate time, money, and personal resources into it. Then you acquire it. Then it’s gone. Does the raw pleasure ever last with the same person longer than you hold a 90-day Treasury bond? 

It’s like investing in stock options. It’s a thrill for a while but the endgame is a price of zero.   

Still, we make the mistake of letting our passions overrule our senses so we jump into risky ventures and lose a lot more than we win.  

Talk about buying copper.  

Buying a Home 

A home. That’s an asset.  

Every month when you pay your mortgage, the level of equity you have in your home rises. It’s something of value that rises each month no matter what the market is doing.  

Instead of going for the quick buck, you keep your head above your impulses and keep adding value to your assets every month.  

It’s like withholding from the ultimate physical pleasure to dedicate yourself to the ultimate human relationship, reserving the execution of this desire to the way Hashem wants it, with your husband or wife at the right time. 

That’s a long–term investment that returns value over time. For a house, you get more value each month. To hold this commitment, you get returns in this world and the Next world every minute.  

Putting your spiritual, emotional, and family’s welfare before your own, the blessings are instant, ongoing, and rise in value every day. Unlike all the physical wealth you can accumulate all your life, what you acquire each moment stays with you to eternity.  

Now that’s a steady yield.  

But don’t forget to never let your guard down! Slowly, slowly the barriers fall, until a person finds himself throwing the entire investment down the drain for 5 minutes of fake pleasure. Guarding yourself requires daily personal prayer. Nothing in this world stands on its own forever – without continued upkeep, it will eventually crumble. 

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his wife and children. He loves learning Torah, writing hi-tech, coding ReactJS Apps, hearing personal stories about the Land of Israel and sharing all of it with everybody on his Highway 60 app at https://highway60.net. You are welcome to connect with David or email him at: 

david.ben.horin@spreadyourenthusiasm.com.