Making Your Portfolio an Investment Work of Art

Creating your financial work of art begins with a vision your portfolio into an investment masterpiece.

At first glance, a painting by Picasso and a successful investment might appear to have nothing in common, but there are similarities in the process that created them both.

Robert Fritz is the author of the best-selling book The Path of Least Resistance, and an international expert on creative problem solving in life and in business. He believes that there is an invisible technology of creating, a thinking and acting process that is common to all creative problem solving from writing a book, or painting a picture, to coming up with an idea for a new business or planning and executing a good investment strategy.This technology of creating consists of three distinct steps: vision, reality, and the bridge between the two.

Every fresh task starts by standing in front of a blank canvas and having a vision. Without a vision there is nothing to aim for and nowhere to go. So, for example, your vision might be to paint a picture of the creation of the earth that will both satisfy you and please your client, a medieval pope. Or to start a new life organic farming after you retire from your current career.

At the same time, every vision has a starting point in reality - the resources at your disposal. Your skills and talents. Your brushes and paints. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Your available income. Your assets. The value of your compulsory superannuation fund.

The bridge is the all important link between reality and vision, the plan of execution that will make the vision a reality. For most of us wishing to create financial security, designing the bridge is the hardest part, and this is why we often seek the services of a bridge builder, a professional financial adviser who understands how to build capital and wealth and can help us link our vision of financial security to our current reality of income and assets.

"There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy." - Author unknown

It all sounds pretty straightforward so far. You decide on your financial goal or vision, list all the details of your financial reality - salary, assets, etc. - and trot off to a financial adviser who will draw up a plan that will link the two.

If only it were that easy. The truth is that there will always be more aspiring artists than painters of masterpieces. More would-be writers than authors of best-selling books. More hopeful buyers of lottery tickets than owners of successful investments or valuable assets.

To put it another way, how come you can have two families living in the same suburb, with the same number of kids of similar age and more or less equal family incomes, yet one is paying off their home, purchasing investment property and has savings in the bank, while the other is struggling to keep on top of the credit card. What separates the winners from the losers?

We believe that everything depends on the strength of your vision, your belief in yourself and your determination to reach your goal.

Imagine your life was a thick rubber band. You hold one end, your reality, between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, and the other end, your vision, between the thumb and forefinger of your right hand. If you stretch your hands apart, one of two things might happen. The vision might slip out of your right hand and the rubber band might contract back to reality with a thwack. You have gone precisely nowhere. Alternatively, if you keep a really tight grip on your vision, the tension of the rubber band will pull your reality towards your vision. The desired result.

The secret is to find a financial adviser who will help you to select a vision that will inspire you, to reinforce your belief in your own ability to achieve that vision, and to work towards achieving it. It's never easy and there will always be a price to pay and sacrifices to make that will demand reduced spending, tighter budgeting and the ability to think about the long term. Your financial adviser can inform you, guide you and support you. But he or she cannot make the choices for you.

"Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life". - Robert F. Bennett

It's also important to appreciate that using a financial adviser is not a one-off event. It's an ongoing relationship that can last for decades. This is because the rubber band changes all the time - becoming thicker, thinner, shorter or longer as you change and the world changes around you. Your reality may change as you start to accumulate assets, or your income increases with time, or your state of health changes, for example. And this may result in changes to your vision or goal.

At the same time, external events such as the state of the economy or the property market, changes in income tax thresholds, or the regulation of superannuation funds will also affect the efficiency of the bridge you and your financial adviser have designed to reach your goal.

All these changes demand regular reassessment of your goals and re-engineering of the bridge that leads you to them. So while you can change financial advisers whenever you like, it make sense to find someone you like and respect and stick with them - at least for as long as you can see they are delivering results.

Moneytree Partners would very much like to be your financial adviser. We want to help you understand your financial reality, define an investment vision worth working for, design a bridge that will lead you there and give you the encouragement and support you need to complete the journey. Let's grasp that rubber band together.