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More than a year ago, I wrote about a conversation I had with someone who was worried about the effects of inflation on his personal wealth. By chance, I met him over the weekend and we spoke briefly. He lamented that he did not listen to me as he could not come to terms with the idea that to protect his wealth, he had to take risk.
This reminds me of a saying in Hokkien I heard recently:
Afraid that grasping too loosely might let the bird fly away and that grasping too tightly might kill the bird.
So, fearing the wealth destructive effects of higher inflation, he wants higher returns from investments that have higher risk but the problem is that he cannot accept the higher risk!
If not for the fact that he looked so serious and troubled, I would have made a joke out of it.
This person is very careful with his money. Perhaps, too careful. Well, he has a family to care for and with young kids, I suppose he is right to fear risk. If there should be an investment that would offer him high returns with near zero risk, I am sure he would have jumped on it, but is there such a thing?
Anyway, I did not know what to say to make him feel better and after making some small talk, I bid him farewell. Would you know what to say to make someone feel better in such a situation?
Some people are just ill disposed to risk taking. Live and let live, I guess.
The paradox is that he is actually already taking risk by leaving his money in his bank account in the current low interest rate, high inflation environment and he is definitely not growing any wealthier.
Related post:
To protect our wealth, we have to take risk.
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