The behavioural finance [1] gurus tell us we’re a bunch of weak-willed monkey brains who chase performance like the world’s tastiest banana. However much we may think we’re rational agents – weighing up the odds like ice-cool Vulcans – the reality is we’re more like excitable apes, swinging from mood to mood like our ancestors swung from branch to branch.
At least that’s how I see myself.
How else to explain my desire to hoard gold or to get into whatever else is soaring RIGHT NOW?
Or the unrelenting inner critic that awards me a ‘Fail’ for missing the massive Bitcoin run-up of the past two years? Never mind the all-you-can-eat buffet of risks [2] that could render BTC worthless at a stroke.
It’s tough to ignore the lure of recent success and the desire to do something (anything!)
Even when the evidence [3] suggests that the more we trade, the worse we do.
A voyage of self-discovery
Undertaking and (mostly) sticking to a passive investing [4] strategy is vow-of-chastity hard. Like being a monk who renounces worldly pleasures while living in Las Vegas.
As with our shaven-headed role model, we’re embarking on a journey of self-improvement. Perhaps not escaping the shackles of the mind, but at least the handcuffs of the office. Golden or otherwise.
I employed passive investing to achieve financial independence [5] (FI).
The journey felt like piloting an ocean-going escape raft – lashed together from index trackers [6] and propelled by my savings towards the land of freedom.
[7]
The FI adventure demands:
The determination to stay the course no matter how turbulent the seas. You may be adrift or lost or seemingly sinking, but you cast aside doubt [8] – the mental image of FI island and an “aloha” greeting keeping you going.
The discipline to stick with the plan [9]. Save, buy, hold, rebalance. This is the drumbeat that rows your boat across the uncertain ocean. It’s dull. Your mind screams for an end to the monotony. Willpower must be the galley master to instinct.
The fortitude to resist the siren song of instant gratification. This is particularly true if you’re living on restricted rations [10]. It would be so easy to beach yourself on some sandy reef. Break out the rum, party with the natives, and ignore that smoking caldera and the giant pot that everyone’s so excited about. Hot tub anyone?
The resolve of self-reliance. You increasingly realise that you can fix, patch, or workaround any problems that you face. The comforts and status symbols of your old life fade in significance. You find new pleasure in simple things and in a grander narrative of discovery.
I salute you
It’s a lonely journey [11] at times. It’s not something that many other people want to talk about. So it’s hard to get positive reinforcement that you’re doing the right thing – except through communities like the one here at Monevator.
And that’s what I want to acknowledge. Whether you’re a young 20-year-old who’s making an early start, a 30-something who’s throwing everything at it, or a weather-beaten sexagenarian about to make landfall – you’re doing something extremely difficult.
You’re building or have built large reserves of willpower. You’re forging good habits that are transferable to other parts of your life, like work and health.
And you’re doing it in the face of the general scepticism, ignorance, and sometimes the dismay [12] of wider society.
But if you can maintain your course [13] even when it’s a slog [14] – if you refuse to give up and you fight off the FI demons [15] – if you keep going no matter what, then you will get there [16].
I promise you, it’s worth it. This one really is about the destination and not the journey:
- Waking up when you want to beats an alarm buzzing at unholy o’clock.
- Hanging out with friends and loved ones [17] beats spending all day with colleagues and, to be fair to them, the knob-heads who plague work life.
- Days in the sun [18], reading, exercising, messing about, and pouring time into passion projects beats office-politics, KPIs, pitches, fire-fighting, and 360 reviews.
Oh my God, it’s better. It’s not perfect. Real life still intrudes [19]. But FI is worth waiting for and passive investing can get you there.
Take it steady,
The Accumulator