Offense scores points but defense wins games.
As boring and as tired as that statement is, it's true. In football and in life, you cannot stay on offense forever if you want to have any hope of winning games, let alone a championship ring or two. Whether we like it or not, we've got to punt the ball away to keep ourselves in the game. It's not about acquiescence but making deliberate choices to put ourselves in the most advantageous position possible, regardless of what side of the field that we happen to be on. One can think of punting as offensive defense, a sort of psychological warfare but without the benefit of the ball.
Of course, I understand why people don't like punting. Our American culture prides itself in never giving in and continuing to fight until the last whistle blows. The moxy that resides in the undertones of our social fabric moves us in ways both subconsciously and cerebrally. We hate quitting. And we hate even the pretense of it, which is what punting is for most people. I've yet to meet a fan who was happy to give the ball away to the other team...
But emotions aside, there's a reason why coaches call in the punting unit when the distance to the first down marker is "only" a yard. While the distance may be marginal in a nominal sense, there is always an established risk in going for it, meaning that the offensive unit could fail to execute properly. Then there is a variable risk in which the opposing team's defensive unit could stymie the attempt. Established risks are easier to control but variable risks are not. When the combination of risk becomes too large relative to the reward, virtually all coaches will elect to punt.
Punting is as critical to a football game as it is to your portfolio. You can't possibly expect to "go long" in every market cycle. You certainly can't expect to be long in a bear market where most stocks eventually take major losses. And the crazy thing is that the less money you have, the more important it is to punt in the face of down-trending markets. The ultra-rich have access to the best information and to the best financial tools : they have the granularity to dice through any market with the help of a good advisor. A 401K account, which is nothing more than a glorified mutual fund, does not have acute diversity and therefore lacks the agility to survive a major downturn. If you don't believe this, remember back a few years ago when your account statement was nothing but a sea of red.
I can't speak for other people but I'm not in any mood to "ride out" another major downturn just like I wouldn't go for it on 4th and long and backed into my own endzone. If the game isn't on the line, there's no reason to be foolish. And even if there's a shred of opportunity to get the ball back with some decent time on the clock, it's better to take that road then to do something that has very little chance of ending up well.
The focus is, after all, on winning...
As boring and as tired as that statement is, it's true. In football and in life, you cannot stay on offense forever if you want to have any hope of winning games, let alone a championship ring or two. Whether we like it or not, we've got to punt the ball away to keep ourselves in the game. It's not about acquiescence but making deliberate choices to put ourselves in the most advantageous position possible, regardless of what side of the field that we happen to be on. One can think of punting as offensive defense, a sort of psychological warfare but without the benefit of the ball.
Of course, I understand why people don't like punting. Our American culture prides itself in never giving in and continuing to fight until the last whistle blows. The moxy that resides in the undertones of our social fabric moves us in ways both subconsciously and cerebrally. We hate quitting. And we hate even the pretense of it, which is what punting is for most people. I've yet to meet a fan who was happy to give the ball away to the other team...
But emotions aside, there's a reason why coaches call in the punting unit when the distance to the first down marker is "only" a yard. While the distance may be marginal in a nominal sense, there is always an established risk in going for it, meaning that the offensive unit could fail to execute properly. Then there is a variable risk in which the opposing team's defensive unit could stymie the attempt. Established risks are easier to control but variable risks are not. When the combination of risk becomes too large relative to the reward, virtually all coaches will elect to punt.
Punting is as critical to a football game as it is to your portfolio. You can't possibly expect to "go long" in every market cycle. You certainly can't expect to be long in a bear market where most stocks eventually take major losses. And the crazy thing is that the less money you have, the more important it is to punt in the face of down-trending markets. The ultra-rich have access to the best information and to the best financial tools : they have the granularity to dice through any market with the help of a good advisor. A 401K account, which is nothing more than a glorified mutual fund, does not have acute diversity and therefore lacks the agility to survive a major downturn. If you don't believe this, remember back a few years ago when your account statement was nothing but a sea of red.
I can't speak for other people but I'm not in any mood to "ride out" another major downturn just like I wouldn't go for it on 4th and long and backed into my own endzone. If the game isn't on the line, there's no reason to be foolish. And even if there's a shred of opportunity to get the ball back with some decent time on the clock, it's better to take that road then to do something that has very little chance of ending up well.
The focus is, after all, on winning...
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