Investor Minute
How Being Rich on Paper Can Sabotage Your Long-Term Plan
We’ve had a number of friends achieve success in getting into shape with the help of an online fitness coach. These acquaintances had been trying to lose weight through diet and exercise, but for various reasons had not had success.
But with the help of a knowledgeable coach who could monitor their workouts, give them direction on nutrition, and most importantly, hold them accountable to not give up—our friends achieved their goals.
Depending on the program, you can spend hundreds of dollars a month for this kind of virtual coaching. However, people who have not had success with other methods have said the expense is worth it.
One of the practices that seems to be common among these coaches is having the participant weigh themselves daily. On its own, body weight can be a deceiving metric for fitness. First, muscle is denser than fat, so as you get stronger your weight may not decrease dramatically. Second, your weight can fluctuate. Not only can you weigh a different amount each day, but your weight will vary with the time of day.
This is why the coaches say to weigh yourself at the same time each day, and then average your weight for a week. It doesn’t make sense to get discouraged when you happen to be up two pounds one day. Or if you’re suddenly down two pounds conclude that you have “earned” a whole pint of ice cream.
Economists have been observing this same kind of rationalization in people who see a short-term increase in their “paper wealth.”
Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, says that when view your retirement account and see that it’s unexpectedly up, and you go on Zillow and see that your home’s estimated value is at an all-time high, you start feeling better about spending money.
Economists call this optimism the “wealth effect.” It makes people feel like they are suddenly prosperous and so have earned the right to loosen the purse strings. This may take the form of an expensive wine at dinner all the way up to a major purchase like an RV.
Whatever the splurge, it represents spending in excess of what the people have planned.
Zandi estimates that for every dollar a person’s net worth (assets on paper) increases, their spending will increase two cents. Other economists believe the increase is much higher.
The prudent investor knows that their budgeted spending does not rely on the short-term value of their portfolio. They expect fluctuations in total value, both up and down, to be a part of the journey as they save for retirement. And in fact, many avoid monitoring their net worth on a daily basis, knowing that today’s dip or spike only becomes reality if you immediately cash out.
Your trusted advisor can not only help you with a long-term plan to reach your retirement goal, but along the way give you guidance on personal spending that doesn’t have to be dictated by market volatility. Make an appointment for a free call with me by clicking this link.