Trading Mindset
For those of you that have received a copy of trading like a business you are on the right path because today the focus is on the trading mindset. Please forgive me for what I am about to say, but it must be said. Some of us with IRAs, 401Ks and even 557 plans by the time we retire will need a part-time job to supplement our income. There’s a reason why there’s a greeter at the entrance of Walmart that could be our mother, or even our grandmother. Unfortunately, we believe and rely on the scam, lie or scheme that has been told to us ever since the word “pension” was taken out of the corporate dictionary; “If I just contribute $X my company will put in $X and by the time I retire I should be okay. “
What’s missing is understanding that $1 today will not be worth $1 tomorrow. Don’t believe me? In 1916 the famous Nathan’s hot dog cost 5 cents, as of 2009 it cost over $3. Why is that when we are taught that if manufacturing and production goes up the price should go down? The real reason is it takes more dollars today to get the same thing yesterday. Yes, I may be stretching it a bit with the 100-year difference so let me put it another way, in 1998 the national average for gas was $1.08/gal. Since then we’ve seen it go up as high as $5/gal and finally settle between $2.60 and $3.63 in 20 years’ time. If someone told me in in 1998 that by 2008 I would be making life decisions at the pump I would’ve thought, they were crazy!
What else went up when gas prices went up? Food? Clothes? Bare necessities? They all went up. Do you think the guy who got duped into switching from a pension to a 401k in 1983 thought that would occur just as he was entering retirement? I don’t think so. Like us, he probably did everything he was supposed to; finish paying off his home, finish paying for his children’s educations, budgeted for his retirement, minimized his expenses all around. He didn’t know that it was going to cost more for a loaf of bread or more on gas to go get that loaf of bread than he accounted for.
What if he learned that he needed to take control of his own currency? Learning that he needed to make as much currency now so that he has enough $$$ to maintain his comfortable lifestyle in the future. If he did maybe he wouldn’t be greeting us at the Walmart entrance.
It’s time for us to steer clear of the scam, the scheme, yes, the outright lie that has been conditioned in us to let others use our money to make money for themselves today while we hope things will be okay for us tomorrow.
For those of you that have received a copy of trading like a business you are on the right path because today the focus is on the trading mindset. Please forgive me for what I am about to say, but it must be said. Some of us with IRAs, 401Ks and even 557 plans by the time we retire will need a part-time job to supplement our income. There’s a reason why there’s a greeter at the entrance of Walmart that could be our mother, or even our grandmother. Unfortunately, we believe and rely on the scam, lie or scheme that has been told to us ever since the word “pension” was taken out of the corporate dictionary; “If I just contribute $X my company will put in $X and by the time I retire I should be okay. “
What’s missing is understanding that $1 today will not be worth $1 tomorrow. Don’t believe me? In 1916 the famous Nathan’s hot dog cost 5 cents, as of 2009 it cost over $3. Why is that when we are taught that if manufacturing and production goes up the price should go down? The real reason is it takes more dollars today to get the same thing yesterday. Yes, I may be stretching it a bit with the 100-year difference so let me put it another way, in 1998 the national average for gas was $1.08/gal. Since then we’ve seen it go up as high as $5/gal and finally settle between $2.60 and $3.63 in 20 years’ time. If someone told me in in 1998 that by 2008 I would be making life decisions at the pump I would’ve thought, they were crazy!
What else went up when gas prices went up? Food? Clothes? Bare necessities? They all went up. Do you think the guy who got duped into switching from a pension to a 401k in 1983 thought that would occur just as he was entering retirement? I don’t think so. Like us, he probably did everything he was supposed to; finish paying off his home, finish paying for his children’s educations, budgeted for his retirement, minimized his expenses all around. He didn’t know that it was going to cost more for a loaf of bread or more on gas to go get that loaf of bread than he accounted for.
What if he learned that he needed to take control of his own currency? Learning that he needed to make as much currency now so that he has enough $$$ to maintain his comfortable lifestyle in the future. If he did maybe he wouldn’t be greeting us at the Walmart entrance.
It’s time for us to steer clear of the scam, the scheme, yes, the outright lie that has been conditioned in us to let others use our money to make money for themselves today while we hope things will be okay for us tomorrow.
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