Turn on the Light!: Strategies For Overcoming Investment Fears

Shouldn't planning for the future be fun and exciting? Think of those late-night conversations with your spouse, sitting by the fire, pondering the future. You begin to picture what your lives could be like. Will you retire by the ocean or in the mountains? You can almost smell the clean air and feel the warm sun. Your spirits brighten as you imagine your ideal day. But often that's as far it goes. The thought of what resources you have available to realize this dream pass like a cloud over the horizon, making it feel like a fantasy, just beyond reach. You wake up the next morning with a vague sense of doubt about it all.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say, "I'm afraid to look at my financial statements. I'm not doing anything." Considering events of the past year and a half, this reaction is not surprising.

Fear tends to close the door on our ability to see other possibilities. Our portfolios have taken a hit. We don't know what to do. Paralysis. We do know the landscape of the economy and investment markets is changing radically. In light of these uncertainties, we may come to the conclusion that it is too difficult to plan, or there is less to look forward to. Action seems impossible. Think of the child afraid of the dark, monsters lurking under the bed, unable to turn on the light – frozen. OK, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but you get the idea.

We all know that avoidance is not a good strategy for dealing with problems. We have had time to adjust to the idea that we have less than we thought. It is time to appreciate what we do have. It is time to move on and make positive choices that allow us to regain the feeling of being in charge.

Let's take a look at these negative feelings about our investments and the future and explore steps we can take to get back on track. Three core issues are: fear of losing what we have, fear that we will outlive our money, and worry that we haven't done enough saving and planning. Here are three strategies to help restore a more positive perspective.

First, we always have a choice about how to respond to any given situation. Staying frozen in fear turns out to be the least productive course of action. Fear is always worse in the abstract. The more scared we are, the more important it is that we face whatever we are most concerned with, acknowledge it, and then begin to move in the direction we really want to go. Choosing to adopt a positive point of view is the first step.

Second, write down your primary concern, whether it is related to investments, retirement planning or other problems. Now that the issue is on paper, write down what is the worst that could happen if your concern becomes reality. What does that outcome mean, or what are the consequences you may be facing? You might include your assessment of how likely the scenario is to occur. Then develop a plan of action. Don't get bogged down here. There are seldom more than a couple of plausible solutions to a problem. The last part of the exercise is to write down your first action step. Then do it, of course.

What have you accomplished with this exercise? You have taken a generalized fear, and made it concrete and specific. You have begun to take charge of the situation. Sounds better than sitting around worrying, doesn't it?

The last step centers on planning for the future – how to move toward that warm and fuzzy vision of retirement. When imagining our ideal future, or the resolution of a big problem, it is common to fall into a "state of hope." We see how things might be, and we hope that we can get there. But unless we can approach our dream in a more systematic fashion and create a roadmap, we set ourselves up for disappointment. This happens to my twelve-year-old son when he feels buried by homework and thinks he'll never be able to skateboard again. The feeling of being overwhelmed by the challenge can happen to all of us. Success depends upon our ability to break things down into manageable steps that bring us closer to our goal.

Haven't we had enough fear and indecision in our lives? Fear limits our ability to act in our best interest, keeps us from seeing alternative solutions to problems and inhibits our ability to exercise choice. We have the freedom to decide how we respond to any situation. Acknowledging what we fear, writing it down, imagining the worst that could happen and then creating a plan for action can be tremendously empowering. Breaking big visions down into achievable steps will increase our chances of success. Choose how you respond, keep a positive outlook and create a roadmap to get where you want to go.

Things look much better with the light on!