Good morning & happy Monday!
“The Constitution is the guide which I will never abandon.”
– George Washington
As I mentioned last week, I was able to take a trip to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt last month. It was an amazing experience and truly the trip of a lifetime.
I tend to be a pretty independent traveler … I book my own flights, hotels, rental cars. I plan my routes, book my own tickets, and research the destinations in advance (it’s part of the fun of travel for me). But for this trip, it was almost all done with a guide.
Here is what I learned about traveling in Egypt in particular: a guide is absolutely essential.
I’ve done some adventurous driving, no way would I drive in Egypt … it is INSANE!!!
There was one point during the trip when my dad & I decided to venture out on our own without our guide. We simply needed some additional local currency and thought that we could handle a quick trip to the ATM machine from our Nile cruise boat docked in Aswan. What ensued from here is quite comical.
Google maps said an ATM machine was about a quarter of a mile away from the boat, so we start walking in that direction. Well, we find the ATM machine, but it’s unplugged and not working. We debate for a moment on which way to go, when a horse and buggy stops and the driver quickly tells us we are heading in the wrong direction of a working ATM. Now, our radar was up for scams so we politely blew the driver and his companion off, but upon second thought in the 114-degree summer heat (without water) we decided it would be wise to hire them to take us to the ATM. We agree on a round-trip price and reluctantly get into the horse drawn carriage.
As we are riding along, the driver’s companion turns around and introduces himself as the chef from our cruise. He says he is out with his friend while the cruise was in port to go to the spice market where he buys the local spices for the cooking on the ship. How fortunate for us! Our reluctance turns to optimism, and we enjoy the conversation with the chef as we travel through the town. We probably pass a half dozen banks and each time I questioned this they told me they were taking us to the best ATM machine. Well, after successfully getting some cash from the ATM machine the chef insists that we pop into the spice shop just to take a look. Amazingly it was right next to the ATM machine they took us to. Despite the fact we did not have time (we had a tour that was scheduled to start in about 10 minutes) we did not want to be rude to our boat’s chef and we popped into the spice market for a quick look.
We are greeted with various delicious smelling spices and a shop owner who is very excited to show us his spice selection. In a matter of moments, they were filling bags with spices for us. It all happened so fast and is still kinda’ a blur. Well, the prices are based on Egyptian pounds for grams, obviously as an American I think in ounces and U.S. dollars, so there were double conversion rates in play that made the entire situation extra confusing. Somehow within just a couple of minutes my dad & I had about $30 worth of spices at which point we said we were ready to complete our transaction and get back to the ship.
The ride back was pleasant until it came time to pay, and the carriage driver said the price he quoted was for one-way and per person. This was not the agreement, so we “negotiated” for a moment (meaning he yelled at me and I got annoyed) and we finally settled on a price in the middle. After that he asked for a tip. Once I gave him a tip, he then said I needed to tip his horse. Give me a break! I told him I was done and was heading back to the ship.
So, somehow what we thought was a quick walk to an ATM machine turned into a nearly one-hour outing including a carriage ride through town, a visit to a spice market, and a total expenditure of about $37.
Despite all of this, we felt the adventure was worthwhile, but we were now late for the tour and the rest of the family was waiting for us.
As we were walking onto the ship, I told my dad, “The guide is going to say, ‘this is why you don’t go out without me.’”
Well, the family is waiting in the ship lobby and … well … let me pause here.
About 10 minutes before our arrival back, the guide came to the lobby and saw my dad and I were missing he said to the rest of my family, “I can pretty much tell you what happened. They went to the ATM machine and a horse & carriage picked them up and a guy pretending to be a chef from this ship took them to a spice market. It’s a scam we see here all the time.”
You see where this is going???
So, my dad and I walk into the ship lobby and instantly apologize for our tardiness. The guide just smiles and says, “No problem. What happened?”
My dad lights up with a big smile and says, “You’ll never guess who we ran into … the chef from this ship … and he took us to a special spice market.”
At this point the rest of my family is laughing so hard they are having a hard time breathing.
We fell for the trick exactly as our guide predicted. Indeed, it was unwise for us to venture out on our own without a guide.
Now, the damage was pretty minimal … we overpaid for some spices and a carriage ride … but the lesson is very real … don’t try to navigate Egypt without a trained guide.
In the investing world I am so honored to be your guide.
I know the investing / financial planning world can be overwhelming, confusing, and emotional. It is oftentimes challenging and rarely boring.
I’ve been living in this financial planning world for nearly 26 years and there is quite simply no substitute to time in understanding many of the lessons the market teaches.
Here are just a few main lessons I would advise as a financial planning “guide:”
- Stay focused on your financial goals, don’t let short-term market movements distract you from this most critical objective.
- Try to be unemotional when it comes to investing – I’ve seen many mistakes made when emotions run high. I totally understand when the market goes down and you see your investments lose money it can be very emotional … controlling those emotions will be essential for investment success.
- Tune out the noise … and virtually every bit of financial news is noise. We affectionally refer to CNBC, Fox Business, the Wall Street Journal, etc. as financial pornography. I would encourage you avoid them all together if you can.
- Diversify – the good old-fashioned concept of not having all your eggs in one basket. We put a tremendous amount of effort into this in our portfolio construction.
- Be patient, disciplined, and goal focused. These is no substitute for these traits.
These time-tested principles transcend whatever the current market conditions are, whatever is dominating the news cycle, and whatever is happening in the global economy.
As your financial guide, I will always do my very best to focus on fundamental investment principals and provide prudent guidance based on your unique goals and objectives.
Just don’t let me guide you to a spice market in Aswan, Egypt. 😉
It is such an incredible joy to be your guide and navigate these waters together! Make it a great week ahead!