FEAR CAN LEAD TO POOR DECISIONS

While closing the hangar door after a trip I saw a little mouse run under at the last minute. I know the little guy was thinking that given the summer heat, life inside an air conditioned hangar was looking like a great option. What he didn’t realize was that we hangar owners don’t care much for mice, nothing personal, but they get inside wheel wells and crawl through engine compartments and can really make a big mess. So like the other hangars around me, every corner of my hangar contains a block of mouse poison that would surely ruin this little guy’s evening. So as he ran by I looked at him and said out loud, “Hey little buddy, this is not a good place for you to be. Get out while you can.”
 
Sadly, he did not heed my advice and the next time I visited the hangar we met again under different circumstances. It was just a mouse and nobody really likes mice, but still I felt badly for him. He wasn’t meaning any harm, just looking for safe place to live and a decent meal. He got neither. A hangar is a great place for airplanes, and I can’t think of many places I would rather be, but it’s a really bad place for a hungry mouse.
 
I thought about that little mouse while speaking with an individual about an investment they purchased several years ago. At that time the investing world was challenging, fear levels were high, and the heat of the day was leading many investors to seek shelter. This person had found just such a place. A place where they hoped to find a little safety for their money, and it seems there may have even been the promise of a good meal as well.
 
As time went by they came to realize that the safe haven they sought was not much different than my hangar was to the mouse. It seemed nice and safe at first but soon little financial traps began to appear. There were unexpected fees, restrictions on growth, investment limitations, and performance below what might have been suggested or hoped for. This investor realized that in attempting to escape the financial heat, they had gotten into a situation where their investments were simply not doing what they needed them to do, so they made the decision to get out. 
 
Many make the decision to flee to a safe place when they feel fear, only to learn later that safety can be a relative word and often comes at an unexpected cost. If you have purchased investments that are no longer fulfilling your needs, or maybe weren’t even good to begin with, don’t be ashamed or afraid to make a change and get out, while you still can. You certainly don’t want to wind up like my little mouse.