I want you to understand that stocks, like trees, donโ€™t grow forever. Look at Apple stock. During the first trading day of 2022, Appleโ€™s market cap surpassed $3 trillion. Did you know that on the same day with $3 trillion, you could have owned all of McDonald’s, Walmart, AT&T, Philip Morris, Berkshire Hathaway, Proctor & Gamble, JP Morgan Chase, Starbucks, Boeing, Deere, and American Express combined? Does that mean Appleโ€™s going down from here? Listen, Iโ€™m Your Survival Guy, not Johnny Appleseed.

But hereโ€™s the deal. When you get older, you canโ€™t afford to lose money (can you ever?), because you donโ€™t have the TIME to make it back. One of the key pitfalls investors fail to overcome is ELIMINATING EMOTIONS from their portfolio. When you get older, itโ€™s even HARDER. You hold on too tight. Donโ€™t take this the wrong way, but I donโ€™t get emotional investing other peopleโ€™s money. Why? Because itโ€™s dead serious business. Period.

Look, the stock market discounts everyoneโ€™s best and worst ideas. Putting your real money, you know your lifeโ€™s savings, to work is serious business. I remember like it was yesterday when I first started working with Richard Young in the late 90s. I would be amazed at his concentration on a specific problem and how he could think it through. His concentration and seriousness, whether investing a hundred grand or a million bucks, was off the charts. That memory is branded into my brain like a stray steer in Costnerโ€™sย Yellowstoneย because the business of investing is serious.

Yesterday, Apple traded intraday down a percent. Why? Because the ten-year Treasury bond rose to 1.789% from 1.769%. Big deal, right? Thatโ€™s only twenty one-hundredths of a percent. And yet thereโ€™s blood in the streets. In other words, Appleโ€”like other tech sharesโ€”is super sensitive to interest rates.

Action Line: Think about Appleโ€™s price today as a reflection of the sum of its future earnings. Itโ€™s like a bond with no maturity date. So, if youโ€™re concerned about your exposure to sensitive positions like this, perhaps we should talk. Iโ€™m here for you. If you are one of the many people who know what they need to do to prepare their portfolio, but canโ€™t get focused enough to break through your emotions and make the hard calls, I can help. If youโ€™re serious about preparing your portfolio for whatโ€™s ahead but need that extra push, click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive newsletter. Iโ€™ll be there to encourage you to push through inertia and take the steps you need to protect you and your family. But only if youโ€™re serious.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.ย