I have no problem selling gains from investments in order to keep them and reallocate them into other opportunities. Recently, I met with a client for a review appointment who claims “she can’t understand this stuff that is why she has me.” I know that she likes to garden, I walked down that path with her. This is what I had her visualize:
I said, Imagine planting a sunflower. It grows tall and strong throughout the season. Harvest time comes and you love looking at this tall, strong plant. Dilemma, right? This is how you enjoy the flower and many more like it in the future, you cut it down.

By cutting down the sunflower you can enjoy it two ways. First, you can put the flower in a vase and enjoy its beauty. Second, you can take the gain of many, many new seeds from the flower and plant them. Next season you will have many different flowers from the growth of the original one.

My client easily understood why we take some gains off the table and diversify. Go out there and look at your own sunflowers.

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