EXPOSE | Missing value for price
“The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.” – Phillip Fisher
EXPLORE | How invested are you in investing?
I’m not a close follower of ‘the market’, but I do admire the savvy investor who can see the possibility of a future return. Most often when we talk about a return on investment, it’s that the profit, or benefit, comes back to the investor. While not illogical, but perhaps detrimental, almost never takes into account the effect on the invested.
What about the return, or benefit, to what you’ve invested in? What value was there in your investment beyond what it would return to you in profit? Aside from your not caring, do you even know the value of what you’re investing in?
There can be quite a disparity between what something costs and what it is actually worth. Who assigned the value? Based on what? Beauty may be in the ‘eye of the beholder’, but value and worth must have a more objective standard. How can a painting fetch more than what is invested in saving a person’s life?
While we know the price or the cost to us, we can at the same time know little–or care at all–about our investment’s actual value. Consequently, things of little or no real value are treated like gold. That is, until they are of little or no real benefit.
“All that is gold does not glitter…”
J. R. R. Tolkien
Usually, it is the inverse of J. R. R. Tolkien’s aphorism from The Fellowship of the Ring that we hear: ‘all that glitters isn’t gold’. However, in light of Phillip Fisher’s quote, it seems more potent to quote Tolkien directly: ‘all that is gold does not glitter’.
We shouldn’t be fooled by what something costs. We can pay far too much for far too little–career, property, what makes us happy. Yet, there may also be opportunities where we will give everything we have to something who’s value is incalculable–children, spouse, God’s kingdom.
Real value and worth are what we should seek. Obvious in some cases, but like a savvy investor, otherwise requires thought and inquiry to see, not just the return from our investment, but most importantly, the future benefit to what we are investing in.
EXECUTE | Making the wisest investment possible
We invest to cause something to grow or thrive. Something that has a high value should be invested in. God has placed a premium on His redemptive plan for mankind, which is a fantastic place to start when considering a ‘high value target’ worth your investment. Here are a few principles to keep in mind to keep us from investing poorly.
Do count the cost
There is nothing wrong with checking the price tag. Knowing what something costs is a part of making a wise investment. However, making the decision solely on cost could mean you miss making a key investment. While cost should be a consideration, it should not be the final arbiter in deciding to invest.
What are you doing with what you have?
Because they are overused and caricaturized, Christian quips don’t always get the respect they deserve. I think that of those is, ‘blessed to be a blessing’. God did tell Abraham that He will bless him and that we was to be a blessing. ‘Blessed to be a blessing’ aptly frames our need to ask ourselves whether or not we’re doing right by others with what we’ve been given.
That is, how can we make the best investment with, to use another quip, our ‘time, talent, and treasures’? We have been given something that is specifically required for something else to grow and thrive. If we don’t invest it, that ‘thing’ may not happen.
Giving value priority over cost
“In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.”
– Robert Arnott
There is no doubt that investing wisely will be challenging. Whether it be emotional, mental or physical, there will be sacrifice involved, but that shouldn’t dissuade us from making the investment.
When we prioritize value over what it may cost us, we are putting the benefit of who or what we invest in ahead of the potential return to back to us. A deciding factor in wise investing is not how difficult it will be for us, but to what degree it will grow what we are investing in. A poor investment is not understanding or taking seriously the value of what is being invested in.
Don’t build bigger barns
The parable in Luke 12 describes the challenge of a prosperous man. What to do with the abundant harvest with which he had been blessed? Build bigger barns. We either can give away what we have, or, leave it behind for others–in bigger barns. We’re not to accrue or acquire with the intention of growing our abundance, but are instead, to spend to expand. God’s blessing us is not intended to terminate with us, but that we take the opportunity to invest what God has given us in unique and profound ways.
Wise investing comes down to what we want to see grow and thrive. It will only cost us what we’ve been given and can’t keep anyway, so why don’t we instead freely invest in what is most valuable? It will have the multiplying effect of continually compounding what is right and good.
Further reading:
Have you buried your gifts?
Giving is the greatest wealth
Investing God’s gift
Abraham: blessed to be a blessing
