Put Me In Coach

Last weekend I was listening to an interview with the famous golfer Gary Player on local sports talk radio. Player has a new book out, but what caught my attention was that he said he never worked with a coach when he was on the pro circuit. He went on to say that he doesn’t understand why today’s pros have a swing coach, a strength coach, and a nutritionist all on staff. Player feels that if a pro cannot fix his own swing or get in shape, he or she isn’t a top professional.

I couldn’t disagree more. There are very few people who can actually motivate themselves consistently to get better. On top of that, very few of us have the discipline to push ourselves to make that change. To take this even further, I have yet to meet someone who can objectively look at a situation and remove his or her own bias in making a decision or undertaking change. This is why we all need help and why we need coaching.

Take working out or training. You can join a gym, but gyms make their money betting you aren’t going to show up. You sign up after Christmas or before the summer when you need to get back in shape. You go for a week or two, but after that your credit card is billed every month and you are lucky if you show up once a week.

When do you actually show up on a regular basis? When you have hired a trainer/coach. A trainer holds you accountable to show up and do your work out. A trainer pushes you when you don’t want to do that extra burpee or sprint the last 100 feet. Despite what Gary Player thinks, most great athletes have a coach or multiple coaches to push them to be better!

The same could be said for investing and financial planning. Most of it is not rocket science. It’s common sense. The problem is that most of us don’t have the time or discipline to do it. More importantly, we as human beings can’t be objective in looking at our own financial lives. When was the last time you and your partner had an honest conversation about money, values, or retirement?  It’s not the type of conversation that we generally want to have. Americans spend more time planning a one-week vacation each year than looking over their finances—scary!

Last year Vanguard did a study outlining a financial advisor’s value. The company concluded that a good advisor could add 3% net value to returns, half of that coming from behavioral coaching. Investors by nature don’t like to sit still and let their investments work for them. There is a psychological need to move from one investment to another, chasing yesterday’s winner, which inevitably will be tomorrow’s loser. A good advisor/coach keeps his or her clients invested in a properly allocated portfolio according to their individual risk tolerance. Sometimes there is greater value in what you don’t do versus what you do. To quote financier George Soros, “If investing is entertaining, if you’re having fun, you’re probably not making any money. Good investing is boring.”

We are human beings, which is to say that in much of what we do, we could benefit from a second opinion. If you want to see better results in your golf game, health, or portfolio, it pays to work with a coach.