{"id":75489,"date":"2024-04-17T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T00:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/?p=75489"},"modified":"2023-10-25T14:19:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T03:19:28","slug":"how-humility-keeps-you-from-making-big-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyupdate.com.au\/how-humility-keeps-you-from-making-big-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"How Humility Keeps You From Making Big Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Remember that kid in your high-school geometry class who raised his hand and asked the question\u00a0everyone<\/em>\u00a0knew the answer to?<\/p>\n

Remember how the class laughed and thought he was so dumb?<\/p>\n

\"School<\/p>\n

It turns out that kid wasn\u2019t dumb.<\/p>\n

That kid was humble.<\/p>\n

More humble than most of us.<\/p>\n

And being humble, when it comes to money, is incredibly smart.<\/p>\n

That kid may very well have been Warren E. Buffett who, at the age of 86, still spends\u00a080 per cent of his workday reading and thinking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Humility\"<\/p>\n

Why does he do this?<\/span><\/h2>\n

To learn things he doesn\u2019t already know.\u00a0\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/div><\/p>\n

You would think that Mr Buffett \u2014 one of the most successful investors in the history of investing \u2014 would know everything he needs to know by now.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s that much stuff that Warren Buffett still doesn\u2019t know, chances are we could also stand to learn a thing or two.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It starts with being humble enough to raise our hands when we don\u2019t understand something.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, my wife and I met with a lawyer to get some basic estate planning done.<\/p>\n

As he rolled through the plan, we just sat there nodding along, pretending that we understood everything he said.<\/p>\n

We signed a few papers, shook hands and walked out of the building.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When we got back to the car, we turned to each other and said in unison, \u201cDid\u00a0you\u00a0<\/em>understand that?\u201d Neither of us had a clue what we had just done.<\/p>\n

The mistake of failing to admit we didn\u2019t understand cost us valuable time in circling back and asking the obvious questions we should have asked in the first place.<\/p>\n

The thing is, we both felt like we\u00a0should have<\/em>\u00a0understood the process.<\/p>\n

My wife has a degree in finance.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written a few books on the subject.<\/span><\/h2>\n

As silly as it sounds, we were both too embarrassed (and proud) to ask the \u201cdumb\u201d questions.\"I\u2019ve<\/p>\n

While humility is a virtue in all parts of life, when it comes to making smart decisions with money, it serves as a vital layer of protection.<\/p>\n

When it comes to our money, there are no dumb questions.<\/p>\n

So if we want to keep our money, consider this a lesson we can\u2019t afford to learn.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not telling you to start reading hundreds of pages a day, like Mr Buffett (although if you have the time, go for it!).<\/p>\n

But I am telling you if there\u2019s something in your portfolio you don\u2019t understand, say something now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Having the humility to admit there\u2019s something you don\u2019t know is the smartest thing you can do.<\/p>\n

Editors note: This article was originally published a number of years ago and has been republished for the benefit of our many new readers.<\/em><\/p>\n\r\n\r\n

<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Remember that kid in your high-school geometry class who raised his hand and asked the question\u00a0everyone\u00a0knew the answer to? Remember how the class laughed and thought he was so dumb? It turns out that kid wasn\u2019t dumb. That kid was humble. More humble than most of us. And being humble, when it comes to money,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":112099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,653],"tags":[1015],"class_list":["post-75489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-property-updates","category-personal-finance","tag-money-you"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow Humility Keeps You From Making Big Mistakes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Remember that kid in your high-school geometry class who raised his hand and asked the question\u00a0everyone\u00a0knew the answer to? 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