Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

Compensation was paid to utilize rankings. Click here to read full disclosure.

A Lesson from Legends: “Don’t Confuse Activity with Achievement”

By

By kenary820 @ Shutterstock.com

The Boston Celtics reached yesterday’s NBA trade deadline without making a trade. “Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge keeps a John Wooden book on his desk,” explains the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, “and he likes to think back to one of the legendary UCLA coach’s famous quotes when the NBA trade deadline arrives.” Himmelsbach writes:

Don’t confuse activity with achievement,’’ Ainge said. “It might be that the best thing you ever did was stand pat. Red [Auerbach] told me in my first year doing the job, ‘The best trades I ever made were the ones I didn’t make. I held restraint.’ I’ve actually often thought of that, because sometimes you start feeling the heat because everybody around you is doing things. It’s like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ But it doesn’t always mean that it’s making everybody better. It just means that you’re making changes.’’

Take the wisdom from Wooden and Auerbach and apply it to your investment portfolio. If you choose not to make a trade, it doesn’t mean you’re not working or still achieving greatness. It simply means you didn’t make a trade.

Sometimes standing still is the hardest part about investing.

Be Intelligent: Join Dick Young & Get My Friday Email

As the late great Jack Bogle said, “Don’t just do something, stand there!”

 

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profile

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.

Recent Posts from YourSurvivalGuy.com

“I’m Not Going to Invest Until After the Holidays”

Inertia. It’s a mighty foe. You can beat it back, but it’s not easy. You can always find reasons for not investing. Here are a few just from the last couple of weeks. “I’m not going to do anything until the election is over.” “I’m not going to do anything until after the holidays.” “I’m […]

Death and Taxes: Know Your Estate and Inheritance Tax

Will your estate be taxed when you die? Many states have phased out estate and inheritance taxes, but there are a number of them still using this punitive tax. Those states include: Connecticut Hawaii Illinois Iowa Kentucky Maine Maryland Minnesota Nebraska New Jersey New York Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Washington and Washington, D.C. At […]

Fidelity’s Assets Under Administration Grow 30% from Year Earlier

At Think Advisor, Dinah Wisenberg Brin reports on Fidelity’s ability to attract new customers. Fidelity CEO Abigail Johnson explains, “The economics of the financial industry continue to reward efficiency and demand faster speed to market.” Wisenberg Brin writes: Fidelity Investments posted significant growth in assets, trading and client planning sessions for the third quarter. Assets […]

A Spending Cuts Cheat Sheet for Elon Musk

Elon Musk wants to trim away the fat from the federal government much the way he did when he bought Twitter and cut vast numbers of its workers. At the Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, who has studied cutting spending for decades, gives Musk and the Trump administration a list of the top ten spending cuts […]

Money: What Trump Means for Your Stocks and Income

Your Survival Guy takes note when Warren Buffett hoards $325 billion in cash, which is mostly invested in Treasury bills. When you look at the yield curve you can see he’s getting around five percent on his money. Not bad considering major investment firms are calling for about the same or less long-term returns for […]

Membership Has Its Privileges

When you become a client, you open the door for the rest of your family. Membership has its privileges. It is no surprise that the Fed cut rates recently (pay attention to The 4 Biggest Surprises of the 2024 Election) in the face of rising stocks, commodities, real estate, and more. Those are all inflationary […]

Thank You to America’s Veterans

Take some time today to remember all of America’s veterans who gave their time to serve the United States of America, and if you know a veteran, thank them for their service.

“Happy I Joined You,” Membership Has Its Privileges

Your Survival Guy loves to hear about your retirement life. From your family visits to your adventures around the world and even your hobbies and retirement jobs that you do mostly for fun, it’s wonderful to hear about you and your family. A couple of years ago, I explained to you that you need to […]

Investment Surprise #1: This One Is Free for You

It is no surprise that the Fed cut rates yesterday (pay attention to The 4 Biggest Surprises of the 2024 Election) in the face of rising stocks, commodities, real estate, and more. Those are all inflationary signals in my book. Rising bond yields suggest the same as investors demand more bang for their buck to hold […]

Are You Getting the Financial Advice You Deserve?

Now that voters have spoken, we know that in the words of James Carville, “It’s the economy stupid.” The election results showed that the state of Florida is now ruby red thanks to New Englanders leaving for greener pastures. Americans across the country have moved to places they feel better match their goals. Whether or […]

Not All of America Will See Equal Opportunities

Now that the election has come and gone, Americans can see that some states are priming themselves for success while others are content to pursue the disastrous policies of the past. The great thing about America’s federal system is that you can move to any one of the states to pursue the American dream. Not […]

Emptying the Post Election Trash: Winners and Losers

Wow, that was a statement election. Let’s empty the trash with Your Survival Guy’s winners and losers. You, the investors, are the biggest winners. America is open for business again as stocks roared ahead yesterday and futures are up this morning. Bonds sold off, not surprising. You gotta find money for stocks somewhere, right? Stick […]

What Can Americans Expect from Trump on Taxes?

You want to keep more of what you earn. You work hard for your money and surely know how to spend it better than any government ever could. So you are undoubtedly concerned about the future of tax policy in the United States. After Donald Trump’s landslide win over Kamala Harris in Tuesday’s presidential election, […]

Congratulations President-Elect Trump: It Was the Economy…

Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Voters sent a loud and clear message to Harris/Walz: Do not shame us on your social issues. It is the economy, stupid, that makes America great. Harris and her Obama-led campaign threw everything but the kitchen sink at voters: shaming black men, threatening the loss […]