Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
Ecclesiastes 11:4
The other day , while having dinner with the extended family, one close family member mentioned that they had read a newspaper report suggesting the UK government plans to announce an increase in property tax to pay for all the economic losses incurred during Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. The article’s message was property investors beware! Don’t invest as the government will tax all your investments and bleed you dry.
My family member’s warning was well-meant but, sadly, unhelpful. Newspapers publish a slew of these stories every week. Sometimes they turn out to be true and sometimes they don’t. I call this Crystal-Ball Reporting; when a newspaper quotes some alleged, or self-proclaimed, “expert” who predicts a terrifying event at some unspecified date in the future. The expert will never be held to account for their claim if it turns out to be incorrect and they have a 50/50 chance of being right in any case.
Frankly, the journalists who write these articles don’t care whether or not the prediction turns out to be true. They know that their articles will breed fear – and fear sells newspapers!
The truth of the matter is this. We don’t know whether or not the government will increase UK property tax in the future – and if they do, we don’t know what taxes they will increase, or by how much. We also don’t know what the secondary consequences might be. For instance, if the government raises tax, the number of buyers might decrease and the number of sellers might increase. This could create an increase in supply and a reduction in demand, with a resulting drop in property prices. In other words, it might just be the best news in the world for an investor looking to buy their next property.
We just don’t know.
Ecclesiastes 11:4 is a cautionary proverb for those who like to overthink things. On any given day, there are a million reasons to put off a decision or delay taking action until tomorrow. Whoever watches the wind will not plant.
What we fail to realize is that indecision is, itself, a decision. The trouble is that indecision is based in fear which, invariably, results in the worst possible decision we can make. Whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
When it comes to investing, or planting seeds for future harvest, we have to overcome the fear of loss that leads to indecision. We need to overcome the fear that prevents us from taking action.
Why not follow Solomon’s advice? Nobody knows the future. None of us has a crystal ball that will tell us what tomorrow holds. If you have learned to be content and now have surplus income that God has blessed you with, it is time to begin planting seeds that will produce a future harvest.
If Money is Not Important – Sow the Seed!
Seek out viable opportunities and invest; plant those seeds so that they may grow. One of two things will happen. Either your investment will pay off and you will reap a future harvest or it will fail and you will learn a valuable life-lesson. You will use that learning opportunity to make better investments in future.
Yes, I know it is scary but this is part of the learning process. Education can be costly but it is worth every penny if you learn from the experience.
As far as fear of losing money goes, why be afraid? As Christians, our focus is on eternity. Money is not important, remember? If money is not important, there should be no reason to fear risking it on investment opportunities.
Each of us has a simple choice. We can watch the wind and look at the clouds (i.e. listen to every doomsayer and journalistic fearmonger) or we can follow Biblical advice to plant and reap. Which would you rather do?
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