personal investment

A Gift-Giving Season, All the Year Round
photo shows a pink package with a pink bow on a pink table covered in rainbow confetti in front of a sky blue wall

Going through the winter holidays, all across the globe, many people enjoy the giving and receiving of gifts. One of the recurring features of life—in almost any culture—is a season of gift-giving.

Yet giving seems to figure prominently in the daily lives of people we know, all the year round.

And it takes many forms.

Think of those people in our lives who can do the things we need done, but cannot do ourselves. They understand their personal strengths, develop them into a capacity to help others, and spend time each day improving life for those around them.

And there are those who brighten our day with a smile or a kind word. Their positive perspectives can be contagious.

And (perhaps now more than ever) there are those crucial people in our lives who give us their time—time to connect with us and seek to understand us. When we need some perspective from another, someone who will listen, help us take stock and reflect, those moments can be a tremendous gift.

They say it is better to give than receive. Perhaps giving transforms us in powerful ways, gaining us closer connections with the people in our lives, no matter how intimate or fleeting our association may be.

Gifts born of our talents or perspective or time do not have bows on them, but they may be the most consequential to others.

Clients, in this chapter of life I have more time: if you could use some of it, I would give it to you gladly, unconditionally. Email me or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

A Gift-Giving Season, All the Year Round – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

We Eat Our Own Cooking

© Can Stock Photo / lisafx

Last week I was describing an investment opportunity, or ‘table-pounding bargain’ as I prefer to think of it, to a client. The client was not exactly skeptical, but she had a question. “Do you own it?”

This is a brilliant question. ‘Skin in the game’ is an extremely vital indicator. When someone is personally invested in an idea or concept, they are more likely to be focused on the potential for success or possibility of failure. Alleged leaders who do not share in the consequences of their actions are notoriously inept. (Congress and health care, for example?)

Modern philosopher Nassim Taleb (author of The Black Swan) takes it a step further and talks about soul in the game. Perhaps my level of compulsion, commitment to work to age 92, and obsession with your outcomes is evidence of ‘soul in the game.’ I’m not sure how I could possibly be more involved with my work.

Do I own it? Lady, I am loaded down with the stuff. I cannot in good conscience inflict the kinds of concentrations on you that I am willing to face. After all, few of you want to work to age 92 as I do, and between you and me, I am in the best position to knowingly run larger risks. So the most volatile accounts in the shop, upside and downside, are my own.

Let me clarify: we offer no guarantees. The fact that I own the ideas we talk about does NOT provide any tangible value to you. When your account grows, our revenues rise—it is win-win—and that provides an economic incentive to act in good faith. But whether or not I own something is no guarantee of anything.

My purpose in writing this is simply to say we may be right or wrong on any recommendation—but we are always sincere. I want you to know, that idea I’m talking most about, YES I own it!

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

The opinions expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of LPL Financial.

Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.

There is no assurance that the techniques and strategies discussed are suitable for all investors or will yield positive outcomes.