Spirituality and Finance? How spirituality and financial planning share many of the same principles
Betting Against the Crowd
Robert Frost once wrote, ”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. There is a certain part of each one of us that relishes taking the road less traveled.
While everyday people manifest a natural instinct to be unique, investors sometimes follow that same impulse. These investors are called contrarian.
Contrarian investors are those who are motivated both by the desire to be different and by a different perception of the truths of the financial market. Spiritual Finance, a book by author and veteran financial planner Sheldon Zeiger, explores the contrarian approach to financial planning while giving readers the tools to integrate spirituality and finance to create a balanced life.
Spiritual Finance analyzes contrarian theory in finance, based on the premise that people make markets. Just as individuals go through a spectrum of moods, so does the market.
The contrary investor tries to identify the mood of the market and profit from it and the ability to be able to determine market sentiment is their most important skill.
Spiritual Finance explains that contrariness is often necessary because often the truth is different than conventional wisdom. Combining the ideals of contrarian theory with spirituality, Zeiger cites Old Testament prophets as examples of people who stood alone. Even Jesus was a contrarian; "Go through the narrow gate. The gate is wide, and the way is
broad that leads to destruction, and many are going that way. But the gate is small, and the way is narrow, that leads to life, and only a few are
finding it."(Matthew 7:13-14).
The following are requirements for anyone who aspires to take a contrarian approach :
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Put forth the effort and study necessary to form an independent, informed view
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Go against the crowd
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Pick investments which others do not
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Trust yourself and your ideas, even if it is not the popular view at the time.
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Be prepared to wait until the market turns
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Realize that you could still be wrong
Spiritual Finance is available from Cypress Publishing Group, Inc. for $21.95. You can reach them at 800-284-7328 or online at www.cypresspublishing.com, where shipping for all orders is free.
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