Over-thinking an Investment
April 20, 2009 by Rick Amorey
Filed under Stock Market
Investing your money can be hard, but it’s also very easy. It all varies depending on how you plan to approach the business. And to me, the best way to approach it is to be free of making decisions based on one’s ego. You see, sometimes our desire to be the perfect investor makes us over-think decisions before we make them.
Remember one fundamental truth that applies heavily in the world of investing: We all think in different ways. No two people utilize the exact same strategy with stocks. So, as an individual, know your strengths and weaknesses. Strive to improve on the areas which you’ll need the most improvement, but always use your strong suits to invest.
Basically, choose your playing field with care. If you are in a game show with multiple categories, for example, you will most likely pick categories you have knowledge in. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll most likely pick the Star Wars category. The same goes for stocks, go for what you know.
If you find that you’re trying to convince yourself to go buy a particular stock, in contrast, then it’s probably not worth investing in at all. It’s not a good idea to pretend to be smart by making all sorts of elaborate schemes that will result in those stocks becoming big gainers. If you don’t know about that stock niche, then you don’t know how it’ll grow.
You may also be in a situation wherein the exact opposite has happened; you may have done something correct, but then got scared and talked yourself out of it. How many stories have you heard about people selling out too soon, only to miss out on a 100% gain? Or those people who’ve sold because of a sudden drop, only to see those stocks soar right after? If you think you know the niche of your stock well, don’t be scared off that easily.
All in all, the advice I’m giving out is centered on one principle; do not over-think your investment. Sure, you should avoid making stupid decisions. But don’t be a smarty-pants by looking at every possible problem that your investment will get.
