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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, July 17, 2014 | 18 T Small risks are more significant when it comes to investing oday, we are going to take a journey through the human mind to offer an excellent perspective on how we can become better investors. A signi cant part of investing is managing risk. While the theory on how this is done is simple, putting this into action is much more dif cult. The biggest fear about investing is losing all or most of your money. No one wants to be wiped out nancially the way so many were as a result of the stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression in 1929. Humans fear the worst. We think big when it comes to risk. If you have the opportunity to travel south in the winter and enjoy time at a beach resort, a risk you will most likely consider is being attacked by a shark. You could never be more vulnerable than Audiology and Hearing Aid Centre Many people feel frustrated when they can't participate in small group conversations. This is often due to the room noise overwhelming the soft high frequency speech sounds that are so critical for speech clarity. Poor acoustics such as large rooms, restaurants or cars add to the confusion. Today's hearing instruments adjust automatically to optimize speech understanding in all situations. Digital hearing aids are quite good at isolating the speech information and controlling the background noise while speech is present. With practice most people find they are able to participate in conversations with ease again. Come and experience the new technology for yourself. The first step to better hearing is a hearing test. HEARING SCIENCES "When I am in a group, I just smile because I can't follow the conversation" Call (905) to book your complimentary hearing test ($60 value, Age 55+) If you've forgotten what fair, professional services feels like, call us and prepare to be amazed! Satisfaction guaranteed! 465-3277 (EARS) OAKVILLE 2419 Marine Drive swimming in the ocean if there was a shark in the water. Remember the fear that gripped the beach community in the 1975 movie Jaws because of one killer shark. The risk of a shark attack is real. However, there are seven billion people on the planet and sharks kill approximately 10 of us every year. Some people think there is a signi cant risk in ying. Most of us understand it to be more risky travelling to the airport than the ight itself. When it comes to risk, we humans do think big. While we worry about the large and dramatic risks, it is the little things like driving to the airport that cause us more harm. Twenty- ve thousand people are killed by dogs every year. Mostly because dogs carry rabies. Mosquitoes kill almost three-quarters of a million people annually because they carry deadly diseases. When it comes to investing, it is the little things that can be far more risky than the fear of a major nancial melt-down. Yes, major events like the 1929 stock market crash can and do happen. It is the small risks of investing that are likely to be your mosquito. Small everyday risks affect all of us. Are you paying too much in commissions? Are you buying and selling too much, which magni es the risk of high commissions? Are your investments organized to be tax-effective? Not likely. I would hazard to guess most people are exposed to extra income tax liability because their investments are not structured correctly. Dollars & Sense Peter Watson Guest Contributor These types of risks are not sensational enough to get your full attention, but they will be a thousand times more signi cant than the risk of another world stock market crash. It is the small risks that are the silent killer of investment returns. They occur every day, should be managed and can be managed. They are within your control. You can greatly reduce risk by focusing on them to prevent them from adding to your investment costs. These costs act as sandpaper slowly eroding away at the size of your investment portfolio. Gradually, over time, your portfolio shrinks because of simple and small mistakes. We recommend you instill the discipline of tracking your investments carefully. Yes, you can worry about the sensational risks like a stock market crash, but it is those small hidden risks that you need to follow and manage. Successful investing requires you to identify and stop the small risks from accumulating over time and ultimately contributing towards poor investment results. -- Submitted by Peter Watson, MBA, CFP , R.F .P ., CIM, FCSI., Certi ed Financial Planner July 10-20 Free PANDORA leather or colour cord bracelet, with $125 PANDORA purchase.* *Free single-strand leather bracelet ($50 CA retail value) or multi-strand colour cord ($40 CA retail value). Prices before taxes. While supplies last, limit one per customer. Bracelet upgrades available. See store for details. Experience at: MAPLEVIEW Mapleview Centre, Burlington Upper Level Centre Court 905.632.5400