Toxicity

Over this long weekend I had a lot of time to think about things and one thing that sprung to the top of my list was toxicity or the degree to which a substance can damage an organism.  To dig deeper into the definition for a moment an item that is non-toxic can cause toxicity.  Consider water as an example.  On its own it is non-toxic but consumed in mass quantities it can kill the plant, animal or thing that needed it in the first place.  On the flip side low doses of poison in the form of say chemotherapy while completely toxic to the human body, in small enough doses have been shown to cure cancer while not killing the human.  So in this instance while toxic it had a low level of toxicity.

The first place we can identify toxic materials is obvious, the garbage can.  The environment is overburdened with waste and daily we spew pollutants into the environment.  Now not all items in the garbage can are toxic, but combined into a sludge in our landfills the resulting gasses are certainly toxic.  Fortunately our planet has a requirement for some of these gasses but overburdening the planet with too much carbon monoxide for an example is starting to create a strain on the environment for which we will pay the price at some stage in the future unless we can clean up our act.  Hopefully over time we will but with the industrialization of the bulk of the earth's population in places like India and China leads me to believe that it will be many years before we can even think to get this under control.  Will it be too late at that stage? I hope not but only time will tell.

The second place we find toxicity is within ourselves.  We spend most of our lives harboring and building on toxic emotions.  Thoughts that fester within ourselves.  As we get older it seems that our minds become more and more toxic as the burdens of life cast their spell over us.   How many times have you heard the phrase "crotchety old man"?  This is a person who has let years of toxic thoughts take over his mind and he vents on anyone that he comes into contact with.  Not a person that you would want to associate with and hence the reason that he becomes lonely and even more upset at society.  The bestselling author Eckhart Tolle describes our egos as the source of our toxicity calling it the pain-body.  He surmises that if we release our ego we will release the pain-body and be free from all the inner toxins.  Easy to say but difficult to do. 

Certainly all of us could use a good scrub of our own egos on a regular basis and I for one plan to scrub myself clean.  It certainly feels good to release those past grievances and face the world through a set of rejuvenated egoless eyes.  We will see how well I do with this but it is worth digging deep within our souls on a regular basis before our levels of internal toxicity overtake our being and turn us into someone that we do not wish to be.  We work out furiously to keep in shape but we hardly ever work on our souls and I believe that the health of our mind is as important as the health of our body and to be honest the two go hand in hand.  So do some soul searching and you will be surprised by the results.  Suddenly things are put into perspective and you can think rationally and see everything clearly helping you at home and in business.

The final place where we find toxicity is in our portfolios.  I would say that just about every portfolio has a number of toxic assets.  Past investments that have been brushed under the rug or masked over by either throwing more cash at the problem or by hiding it from ourselves by not looking at it.  Out of sight is out of mind or the denial syndrome.  If I live to the age of Methuselah the asset will eventually recover and produce a profit.  The head in the sand syndrome.

A far more constructive methodology is to remove the asset completely just like one would do with a cancerous cell in the body.  Sell the asset and no matter how painful it is at first you will be far better off in the long-run by liquidating rather than leaving it to fester.  First the money (no matter how little) can be re-invested and hopefully will produce a better rate of return.  Second, once the tumor has been removed the burden of carrying the beast around on your back for years is gone and you can now focus on more positive things like making money.  You are essentially scrubbing your portfolio clean and will now be able to concentrate more effectively on the remaining investments.

Every professional portfolio manager knows that it is only a matter of time before you end up with toxic assets in your portfolio and the sooner that you cut them the better your portfolio will perform.  Too often the poor investment turns malignant and festers and clouds your judgment on your other investments while you spend the majority of your time "fixing" the problem.  Cut those losers now and not only will your portfolio benefit but so will your mood.  Make it a habit to review your overall investment portfolio with a knife ready to cut away any unneeded toxicity from your portfolio.  Doing this regularly will allow you to achieve far higher results in the long-run and after a time you will wonder why you waited so long.  Align yourself with a trusted money manager and create a game plan for the future but make sure that you review your portfolio on a regular basis to ensure that it is performing as required.  If you need any help on this let me know and I would be happy to review your investment portfolio to make sure it is achieving what you expect it to achieve without taking on unnecessary risks.

Once these assets have been liquidated you also now know where you can find a great rate of return for your cash so explore our website at http://www.fixedratedeposits.com/ and learn more about why I believe that this is a fantastic place to put your cash.