Highway Finance
So I’ve been working for a financial services company for 11 years, as a writer, a programmer and a project manager. I’ve considered myself an artist, a creator and a leader, but never a financial wizard. Deep inside, I’ve resisted being that person, even if I put away my black denim jacket, long hippy skirts and my back-pack five years past.
I could edit your financial materials so they made sense. I could turn your formulas into online calculators and business applications. I could lead and understand more about finance than your average lay-person. But I can’t really get it all until I get licensed. It’s not like I’m selling out, I’m learning more so I can do a better job, right?
Long story short, I’m working on my Series 7 securities license. But the artist, the philosopher in me is making connections with this new information. And I’m thinking a lot about the theories of risk and return… as they relate to road travel.
Driving down Northwest Highway to work, I found myself in the middle lane behind a long line of cars. The left-hand lane was equally stacked up, but there was only one car at the light up ahead on the right. I could go for the immediate return, but I risked being stuck behind a city bus that might be laying in wait around the curve up ahead. My risk paid off. I got ahead of the long line of cars and got out before I encountered the bus(t).
Driving to a car shop the other day, my man and I drove separate cars. The freeway was backed up, but the service road seemed to be flowing very smoothly. I knew that up ahead there were lights on the service road, so I took the slow and steady path of the freeway. He decided to take the risk and stay on the service road. He got stuck at the lights, but he still made it to the shop before I got there. I was the moderate investor who knew that I would eventually make my goal, while he was the more aggressive investor, accepting the risks but ultimately making a faster return.
And that is today’s lesson on highway finance. Tune in next week for a literary look at this concept featuring Stephen King’s The Talisman