The Pursuit of Wealth
Using technology to lower your premiums
Ohio Mutual Insurance Group is one of the insurance companies we represent to protect our client’s home, vehicles, and personal liability. Ohio Mutual has an app that allows policyholders to take pictures of their own homes. By using the app Ohio Mutual will discount their home insurance premium by $50. Contact our office to learn more. 419.496.0770 / 855.496.0770.
Dynamic Growth
A common habit that financially successful people have in common is a commitment to ongoing education. As a group, these people tend to be voracious readers. Books allow us to see an old problem in a new light, or see a problem we can solve that we never knew existed. Books allow to better understand the world we live in. Books change us and allow us to change the world. In a recent episode of The Dynamic Growth Podcast, Derek and Macy share a few books that have changed their lives. Life is best experienced in the growth stage. Never stop learning and you will never stop growing. You can find the episode here.
The Pursuit of Wealth: A Noble Pursuit.
“What do you want to be when you get older?”, a teacher asked. All the hands in the room shot up at once. The teacher pointed to a young girl in the front row. Her eyes held the brilliant spark young children have when their life is still a blank slate. “I want to be wealthy!”, the girl confidently announced. The teacher frowned. “Be careful what you wish. The love of money is the root of all evil. I think you will find there are more rewarding pursuits than to devote your life to acquiring a substance that morally corrupts.” The girl’s eyes dimmed; she sank back into her chair as the smile left her face.
The relationship that many people have with money can be a sad, unhealthy relationship. Money is needed to thrive in modern society, most people spend the best years of their life in service in exchange for money, yet some are told at an early age by our most respected adults that desiring money is evil or selfish.
You and I are on a journey to accumulate wealth. If we want to experience the most out of our journey it is essential that we stop for a moment to consider what we are accumulating. Your level of success will increase if you come to grips with what money represents. I’m here to tell you the pursuit of wealth, in the form of money and assets, is a noble and honorable pursuit. If you were to hold up a $100 bill, what does that piece of paper and ink represent? Does it represent gold? No. It represents a resource much more precious than gold. Let me explain.
This summer my family and I were invited to a mid-summer party at a friend and client’s home. As I walked onto the grounds of his home my eyes immediately were drawn to a decorative stone wall and bench that extended in a semi-circle around a stamped concrete firepit. Humans have gathered around firepits for hundreds of thousands of years. I was in awe how someone could take a basic structure like a firepit and turn it into a functional work of art. Every stone was meticulously placed, every stamp and etching intentional to the creation. “My God, that is beautiful”, said a woman beside me. “I wonder how much that cost?” “It cost a minimum of 20,000 hours”, I said. She looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. “No, I was inquiring the cost of it”, she said. I smiled, “I gave it to you.”
It is said that mastery requires a minimum of 10,000 hours of intentional concentrated practice towards the development of a skill. I knew the craftsman. I had the honor to serve as his advisor before he owned his own company. I was privileged to the knowledge that while we stared in amazement at the finished work of art that lay before us, what could not be seen was the thousands of hours of tedious repetition that were logged well before most people were hitting their snooze alarm. Without those hours, that outdoor masterpiece could not be possible.
“Wait, I thought you said it cost a minimum of 20,000 hours”, the woman said. “It did. For someone to be able to take formless liquid rock and shape it into the scene before us, that individual would have to have a minimum of 10,000 hours of intense practice. However, someone had to pay for that level of mastery. The individual likely would demand an income that also included 10,000 of mastery in his/her own skill. These skills, which they acquired through time, are their gifts to society.
Money provides a peaceful means of exchanging value. Men and women earn money by providing value to others. They then can use their money to redeem value in return. Is that evil? In the absence of money, value is stolen or taken at gunpoint. If you spend $100 on a product or service, what you are saying by action is the value or fulfillment you will receive from that product or service is worth the time it takes you to earn $100. You provide value to receive value. Is that evil?
What about money that isn’t earned? Unearned money tends to disappear and find its way back to value. This is why so many lump sum lottery winners exhaust their winnings within 5 years. Money comes from providing value and is therefore attracted to value. It is for this reason we invest in valuable companies that enhance people’s lives. These are the companies that will continue to prosper into the future. Value never goes out of style.
When you look at your investment statements as they grow over the years. I encourage you to look at the balances on those statements for what they are: a whole lot of valuable time. They were funded through your time in service to others. They are numerical representations of your most valuable resource. We invest those accounts in companies that provide valuable service to others; companies that other people have said in action are worth their time. Money represents our most valuable resource and creates a peaceful method of exchange that can fund family vacations, purchases a child’s first baseball mitt, pay for riding instructions or just provide the freedom to exist at the moment. Is that what we call evil?
I love the fact that I can purchase someone else’s mastery without taking from them. Money allows me to do that; therefore, I love money. Feel good about what you are accumulating. Your pursuit of wealth is a noble pursuit.
Crosby Advisory Group, LLC is a registered investment advisor and insurance advisor. Keep in mind investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. Consider all risks and fees before making an investment. Investments offered in this newsletter may not be suitable for you. This newsletter is not designed to replace individual consultation to your goals. Contact us with any questions: www.crosbyadvisory.com
Watchlist Weekly Winners:
*Tractor Supply Company: 3.55%
McCormick & Company: 3.88%
*The Walt Disney Co: 2.98%
Clorox: 3.38%
Citigroup: 3.26%
CVS: 3.96%
Bank of America: 4.06%
*Tesla: 2.82%
Union Pacific: 3.25%
NextEra Energy: 3.35%
*MercadoLibre: 5.32%
*Public Storage: 3.26%
Nucor: 20.49%
Cummings: 3.56%
*Denotes Tactical Model Holdings
