Selflessness and being selfish are qualities that we all possess and choose to use during certain periods of our life.
Since selflessness requires us to get out of our comfort zone and put others first, such as when having a baby, most questions and contemplations are running around in oneâs head.
Selfishness by nature is more commonly done and easier simply becuase we always strive to be the best version of ourselves.
There is no reason to be embarrassed or jealous if someone is more selfless or less selfish. It is good to volunteer and perfectly fine to work on yourself.
But when it comes to working on ourselves, we focus too heavily on emphasizing ourselves and not enough for others.
For a bank account, selflessness isnât a better idea since personal finance is personal after all.
So how can we come to an agreement and which way of acting or thinking will lead us to maximize our returns?
The short answer is, if you treat your portfolio like a game or gambling match by embodying selfishness, you should become prepared to accept losses more easily becuase that behavior tends to result in riskier bets.
Selflessness isnât always the way to go either becuase it wonât keep you out of the trenches but will expose you to more opportunities, diversification, and less competitiveness.
Comparisons of Acting Selfless and Not Selfish Controlling Your Portfolio:
Advantages:
Tax Deductions
We all know that the moment you purchase a car, it depreciates in value once you ride it off the lot unless it is a luxury, antique in which case you must never drive and store in a secret basement to possibly make a profit from 70 years later. By donating your car to charity to simply contributing a few dollars a month to the YMCA, that can yield pretty substantial tax write-offs and deductions over time. That is the main reason why 80% of charitable donations come from wealthy philanthropists becuase they earn the most hence pay the most in taxes.
Diversification
When you are selfless you put others first. But what does that actually mean in the real world, besides feeding your baby first then yourself? Well, when it comes to helping strangers, Americans, in particular, arenât super generous. Since 9/11, volunteerism has been at a stagnant decline becuase unless you have extra free time while retired or a notable CEO showing off gardening for a school, you arenât willing to volunteer for no incentive just to save a few hundred dollars off taxes each year.
But a true sign of strength is selflessness when you are able to listen to your opponents and be able to handle not agree with them, just listen. When you are weak, you donât want to listen becuase you are weak in your own argument. With our portfolios, we always think we have the best predictions and advice, simply becuase we got it from a book or two that we read. Selflessness people provide help to people and receive invaluable feedback, not expecting it in return.
When I coached tennis at one of the most expensive golf clubs in my town, the place where even Justin Timberlake visits frequently in the summer months, I picked up and dropped off kids for camp. I did it for free becuase the parents liked my presence and excitement around children and it was fun to practice my driving skills and get to know the neighborhood. I never wanted money becuase it was something I enjoyed so much it would feel awkward for such a service. I was a leader and serving others was my mission. Throughout the weeks when I would drop the kids off to their parents when they came off from work or in the front yard, the parents would always be waiting for them to make sure they came home safe and ask them about their day. I wish I brought a notebook every day after camp becuase the amount of financial expertise and advice these families had was incredible. They knew I studied FinTech & Entperneuerhsip at NYU and although some of them had written books and op-eds about it, they never disclosed these secrets that have made me constant and consistent returns ever since. The best knowledge you cannot pay for, it is simply showing up and giving extra, for a whole lot of extra in return you cannot find in books or free guides anywhere. And that requires patience, which most donât have.
Career Boost
As with free advice, relationships, and driving tips to golf clubs, networking is everything in life and can be a make or break a deal when landing a position at a firm you like. Although you should never be obsessed with one firm and have many options open becuase you never know what a company is really like until working there, doing stuff for free, and not expecting things in return through volunteerism and paying for a friendâs lunch can lead to big breaks.
Thatâs how Lloyd Blankfein secured a job as CEO of Goldman Sachs. As a dyslexic grandson of Jewish immigrants, Lloyd has always been an avid reader, and one-day, decades before I was born and prior to working at Goldman, he decided out of selflessness to share a taxi ride with a stranger in heavy traffic where he conversed with Gary Cohen, an employee at the time. Through Blankfeinâs obsession with books and the markets and not extremely intelligent, Cohen still admired the curiosity he had and helped land him the job through that single ride.
Referrals and connections are everything.
Prioritize relationships becuase people last, skills can be taught anytime.
You really get to know a person by the way they treat you not necessarily what they know.
Free Stuff
Along with promotions, exclusive events, and various perks that come with being nice, free stuff also piles along. Some of us, like myself included, are minimalists and donât take advantage of free stuff and others do. It doesnât hurt to get new samples or free clothing. By being selfish, you have to buy your own.
It Spreads
When you are open to helping people and not stuffed into yourself, you are more gentle, appreciative of what you have, and spread kindness.
EQ is the new IQ. It impacts people longer and really makes a difference in the long term.
The best things in life that are free will go a long way:
-Smiling
-Complimenting
-Hand Shaking
-Asking Questions
-Sympathizing
-Taking Time for Others
We spend 1/4th of our lives working. Although technicals are vital to produce work and keep everything tabulated in Excel and running in SQL, if you arenât comfortable being around to ask questions or simply converse at lunch, then the job wonât be as efficient and productive as you might have hoped.
Donât underestimate taking that public speaking course over Java Script. It is as and might be more important.
As I approach my junior year of college next year, Iâve realized that the only things that have really helped me in life from school are working with people, communication, being comfortable sharing ideas, and collaboration.
Mesopotamia and WWI facts could always be learned and didnât help me become a better person, only test taker.
Disadvantages to Being Selfless and Instead Selfish:
Money Down The Drain
Time = Money and unfortunately as much as we learn in school that servant leadership, integrity and taking time to help friends out for no compensation is the right way to act, it isnât always the best way to move forward in life for yourself.
If you are constantly helping others and not improving your own life situation, you need to recalibrate your priorities and go fix them.
Finding a balance between both is key and when it comes to being selfish, donât be afraid to do it with your money and time. The two most important assets.
Wasted money frivolously on people who wasted your life or not true friends
Not Opportunistic
When you are selfish with your portfolio, you tend to read what everyone else reads and watch Jim Cramer becuase everyone else does. You donât possess as much creativity and difference, stepping out of your comfort zone to explore and take risks.
Selfish people want the best returns to show off to others down the road so risks are usually not an option but in the end, with no diversification, they are still more volatile.
When you help people too much, it can be a bit of a waste of time. You need to evaluate if you arenât being helped at all, it might not be the best situation. The perfect scenario to know if selflessness is going right is if you feel good, get something out of it: whether itâs advice or a new relationship, or simply feel accomplished in your own way.
I spent a lot of my teen years creating extra study guides and resources for my friends for free becuase I cared about them and they did for me, up to a certain point when they took advantage of me. My guides let them ace classes and score perfect grades, while when it came down to studying on my own, I was burnout and ended up losing those friends when I couldnât handle making those guides to help them. I have to say they did waste my life.
Pick your poison.
Not Back Up
Others love it when they receive support and confirmation they need attention but as mentioned earlier, too much of a good thing is bad.
Back in Middle School when I had no concept of money and spent money frivolously becuase I could on lavish margarita pizza and glass bottled Coke, I always offered to pay for Friday lunches with my friends. My dad always did this for his pals and although he said that, after a few years later, I then realized they would never let him do that because if you arenât aware, adult items are more expensive than kid meals.
As I look back I regret wasting all of that cash. If I had to guess probably $1200 per month spent on just Friday gathering that couldâve been compounded into great returns if I had stashed that away into a savings account, index fund, or ROTH IRA.
Simply contributing $350 per month into an index fund will make you a millionaire by age 40.
Money isnât everything but saving will get you to achieve your dreams faster.
Donât be too nice.
Yourself
The biggest part of being selfish is only worrying and focusing on yourself. This can lead you into making no friends but can possibly land you a job if it is in a sector that focuses more on IQ than EQ which in that case seems alarming. We all do it and strive to become someone we arenât. Our dreams are celebritiesâ and influencerâs dreams that have been achieved. We get sidetracked by what works for others instead of ourselves. But with selfishness when you donât expose yourself to new cultures, diversity, and portfolio opportunities, you start focusing on a few things well. You bash your weaknesses and hone in on the strengths that could make you a leader in the field, usually if you have good communication skills as well. There is more risk and less diversification with your assets becuase you are too egotistical that everything will work out and have too high hopes.
Stay realistic and cautiously or realistically pessimistic.
Beat Competition
I wouldnât recommend treating everything like a competition or a marathon becuase that can lead ot burnout and no one will like you. But since selfishness is the opposite of selflessness, you do get to boost more returns in a single asset class becuase that is all you are focusing on.
But a winner and an intelligent genius isnât always your best bet becuase that is an easy gateway for manipulation and speculation in your career most notably insider trading. When you believe you know everything and are too cocky, you take too high bets that everything will work in your favor and then end up falling victim to a financial crime that can put you into jail.
In the grand scheme of things and long term view, this will make you end up losing more money becuase too much concentration on one thing is not good.
Money Talk
Most people still do not like to discuss politics or religion, let alone money in this day in age. It has always been a taboo topic becuase it sparks controversy and argument if you know how much your male colleague is making doing the same work you are a desk away. Sharing advice that has worked for us and letting others become rich is rare because we all assume it is there for us online and we want to become the best. But once you inherit a selfless mindset, more luck will be present and opportunities will arise without trying to search for them in a selfish manner.
Thankfully as we get older, we start to transition except for a few people cough cough, Trump from selfishness of saying mine, mine all the time to selflessness, not wanting anything for Christmas except love and gratitude.
Treating people with respect will come a far way and provide returns in the future but how long are you willing to wait at that expense?
If you accept a notable piece of financial advice or a present every time you volunteer or drop kids off, then selflessness is not going to work for you. The beauty of acting a certain way is that you can see if there are benefits if you do it right. There is no cheating in the same of connecting and helping others. Lead your life with ethics, positivity, patience, gratitude, and no gambling addiction and it is almost certain your portfolio will thank you.