Are you great in budgeting? Saving? If you are, are you ready to step up?
If you are not, I don’t blame you. It’s not all that fun to do. Let me share how my being a mother helped me to step up on my financial life, specifically in investing. After which, I found, “budgeting and saving” is a little bit more fun if there is a lot to work with in the first place!
Women, especially mothers should invest right here right now. Missing out on “paid work” to raise children, need financial security no matter what happens to our marriages, and generally having more ahhhhh, loving expenses (treats, makeup, clothes, bling and shoes!)
But what is it really? The idea is to have more than what we start with. Investing is like having a (mommy) cow for milk and baby cows. So, with that I think you will agree that it is well and truly justified to declare ourselves…
“The Mother of All Investors”
There’s more to that idea. Mothers are the best investors because :
1. We know when to protect and when to nurture growth.
You might have heard about ROI or return on investment, but really, “investing” is useless when we don’t get back the money we originally have. So it is important to know how to preserve and protect, starting with avoiding anything high-risk. Mothers instincts put to good use don’t you think?! Then of course, the mark of mothers – love and nurturing. As when children and investments are doing well, we let grow! We watch out for signs or encourage when that growth is continuing and we take action when performance is falling.
2. We have the skills.
I have yet to find a woman who does not do any shopping. Women and mothers shop a lot – from the basic necessities, to everything else. Let me tell you this. Investing is like shopping. Ok, shopping is more on the buying part but that’s where money in investing is made. Buying low, selling high – which is basically what trading is about. Trading is just a more active form of investing.
In fact, this could be you:
a. You search high and low, visiting several shops, or shopping centres even – looking for an item selling below value for some reason. Anyway, considering the whole scheme of things, you want the item and is selling at a steal. You’re a bargain hunter. In investing, this is called value investing.
b. You like to buy what is in fashion. Buying Blue? That is soooo last year! You would only go for new styles. You’re in with the trend. In trading, this is called trend following or one who follows seasons or patterns (a prevailing trend) that dictate what would have a high demand with prices sure to move up.
c. You buy when you see a “window of opportunity” or loophole, to get the most value at the least cost or in shopping terms these opportunities are called “sales”– in trading this is called arbitrage.
So, considering mothers shop a lot, I thought we are natural traders!
3. We have the top traits of investors and traders.
a. Discipline – this is about following the good and the right for safety as well as success, that we like our children to have and learn, investing is a disciplined process. You might have heard of celebrities or lottery winners who went back to being broke because of lack of discipline with their money. Discipline to do the right thing, at the right time, which I also like to call Self-Mastery.
b. Flexibility : Patience and Action – I’m sure mothers who are still herding young children to go somewhere or do something are very familiar with this. We need to use a lot of patience and take action when necessary to keep up with schedules and avoid ill temper (on both sides). Investing is the same, there is a lot of patience required to look for the perfect opportunity, for letting profit grow, or taking decisive action to keep losses small or when profit target is reached.
c. Being prepared – mothers are always ready in case of any accident or unfortunate event. The bringing of extra diapers, food, clothes – it’s about getting on with life! For investing this is applied knowing what to do if things don’t work or surpass targets even before getting into an investment. Also being prepared for any unexpected failure – you need to have a back-up plan. Always.
Rules for Investing – A Mother’s guide.
This article about mothers and investing wouldn’t be complete without rules. Mothers would have rules to ensure the well-being of her children, and so in the world of investing, rules are in the heart of the business of making money.
a. Rule No. 1 – Only invest in something you understand.
Investments have varying levels of risk and we can all learn from Warren Buffett – the world’s greatest investor, who says he does not invest in anything he does not understand. So only invest in something you are sure of.
I think we agree — moms shop a lot, or use many services like banks, utilities, use many kinds of products. So all moms got to realize to invest with low risk is to consider to buy the shares of these companies that they already patronize for their lifestyle. In short, I say, “trading is a way to make money from people making money from you”. Right?! Why should they have all the fun!
b. Rule No. 2 – Set the rules and follow them.
Now Moms certainly would appreciate that to have a good life, and to ensure our children become the best they can be, there are rules for the household and for the well-being of the children. Rules about health, study, behaviour, etc. Likewise, with investing, having rules ensure that we meet our objectives. These rules can pertain to 1) How much we are investing 2) How much we are willing to lose 3) How much profit we want 4) What do we do to ensure we do the business correctly etc.
There are of course more. Let me just stress : What happens when we do not follow rules? In both mothering and trading, the results are most likely to be poor or even lead to complete failure, and we do not want that!
In conclusion, I’ve always believed, if ever there was a group of people more fit to invest and trade, it’s the mothers of this Earth. Why? Because investing and trading is a combination of many different things and mastering them is hard…. and mothers know hardddddd, and yet, we still do it ! We raise children, we deal with challenges and ambiguity, yet we aim for not only day to day results but long-term success. In investing / trading we aim to profit from opportunities or trends that are caused by many factors, that are not always clear. As in mothering and trading — what helps us to triumph are our Rules and Self-Mastery.
Yes. We are. The Mother of All Investors.
(This is my contributed article “The Mother of All Investors” at http://geniusmoms.com/ launching this Mother’s Day!)
