"In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The great truths of successful investing are undeniable and enduring – and for that reason are not often spoken about in the mainstream media, from which most Americans get most of their daily economic, market, political, and other input.

We conduct our lives in an investment culture that is fixated on performance, or rather ‘outperformance’. We want to outperform our friends, neighbors, coworkers; and definitely want to outperform the major market indexes, although 'outperformance' has nothing do with achieving your goals.

The media bombards us with 24-hour streaming financial data, differing opinions every hour, and a sense of urgency that implies that we should care, and care greatly about what they say.  It's all about selling soap.  Daily news and temporary events are “noise” that when acted upon annihilates long-term performance.

The media incessantly tells us that we should always be "doing something" with our portfolios.  There is, a sound (though possibly wicked) business reason for this.   If the mainstream media told the immutable truth  they would repeat themselves every day, and go out of business. 

The media focuses on 'what's working today' instead of 'what has always worked.'

An obsession with ‘outperformance’ destroys performance; when you understand this, you have instantly quadrupled your investment wisdom.

It therefore does not cover the truth. It covers the news, and attempts to get people stirred up about the leading “breaking news" affair of any given 24-hour news cycle like: "Is it time to sell Japan? Will oil hit $100? How many shares should I buy of the company on the front cover of Money magazine? Which six mutual funds went up the most in September? Does Britney still love K-Fed?"

It is therefore the function of an exceptional advisor to preach truth to the news; and offer advice which often goes against the herd, against the media's Armageddon of the month, and quite often against your emotions.

In addition, the greatest of all investing truths is that the primary determinant of real-life returns is not investment "performance" but investor behavior – that the critical variable is not what your managed accounts do. It is what you do that matters, and it’s that simple.

Bowers Capital will help you to define and then fund your goals.