Mary had been thinking about an investment a friend had mentioned.
The more she thought about it, the more she wondered if she should move some of her money into it.
So she called Breed.
“Do you think I should do it?”
Breed didn't answer right away.
“It depends.”
Mary laughed.
“I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted a yes or no.”
“I know.”
Mary looked down at the notes she'd made.
“I just don't want to make the wrong decision.”
Breed nodded.
“Then let's slow down for a minute.”
He didn't tell her what to do. Instead, he asked her why she was considering the investment in the first place.
Mary thought about it.
“I'm not sure,” she said. “I guess I liked what my friend had to say about it.”
“What is the money you're thinking about moving supposed to do for you?”
Mary paused.
She hadn't really thought about that.
Breed continued.
“How long might you need the money? What else do you have invested? Has anything changed in your situation that makes this investment more important to you now?”
Mary sat quietly for a moment.
“I see what you're doing.”
“What am I doing?”
“You're asking me questions instead of giving me an answer.”
Breed smiled.
“That's a better question.”
Mary smiled back.
The investment hadn't changed.
What had changed was the way she was looking at it.
She realized that she had been asking whether the investment was good or bad when the more important question was whether it made sense for her, given everything else going on in her financial life.
Breed leaned back.
“That's why I say it depends. The same investment can make sense for one person and not make sense for another. The circumstances matter.”
Mary nodded.
“I think sometimes we want an answer before we've really explained the question.”
“Exactly.”
And perhaps that's something worth remembering the next time we're faced with a financial decision.
“It depends” isn't always an answer that avoids the question.
Sometimes it's the beginning of asking the right ones.
Richard Sowa, Founder – Read The Money Mirror
FINANCIAL DECISIONS ARE NEVER JUST FINANCIAL.
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