BIO: Tom Wall holds a Ph.D. in Retirement Income Planning, with original research on Whole Life as a Fixed Income Alternative under the advisement of industry thought leaders: Wade Pfau, Michael Finke, and Stephen Parrish.
STORY: Tom got pulled into the Bitcoin frenzy in 2018 and made huge gains. He had also invested in an NFT performing really well and made 15X his investment. Tom took his investment from the NFT and invested the money in Bitcoin. Then Bitcoin’s value dropped, and Tom lost almost half of his investment.
LEARNING: If you make some money, sell, or at least take half off the table. Have a piece of your portfolio that is continually growing but also accessible.
“If you make any gain, take back your original investment, and let your gain ride.”
Tom Wall
Guest profile
Tom Wall holds a Ph.D. in Retirement Income Planning, with original research on Whole Life as a Fixed Income Alternative under the advisement of industry thought leaders: Wade Pfau, Michael Finke, and Stephen Parrish. His focus on academics and selling from a place of integrity comes from a 20-year career of positioning whole life insurance and competing against its alternatives.
Recently he published Permission to Spend: Maximize Your Retirement with the Best-Kept Secret in Personal Finance.
Starting in college as an award-winning advisor with Northwestern Mutual before moving his practice to MassMutual, he subsequently grew his career in prominent home office sales and marketing leadership roles.
Tom has been a well-known storyteller at nationwide perennial company conferences and firm meetings. Tom now coaches and consults with financial advisors, hosts the Whole Life Masterminds study group, and authors multiple original thought leadership pieces, books, and other content.
Worst investment ever
In 2017/18, Tom’s friends started texting him about this thing called Bitcoin. He had heard about it before but dismissed it because he couldn’t find it anywhere or buy it. But when his friends started talking about it, he got interested and decided to invest in it. At the time, Bitcoin was at $2,000. Tom invested $10,000, and in just a year, Bitcoin’s value was $20,000. Tom made some really good money.
Then the NFT craze started, and there was one in particular that Tom believed in, and he bought it. The NFT went up about 15 times his investment. Tom was pleased. Then he decided to move the NFT winnings to Bitcoin, but unfortunately, Bitcoin had started going down at the time. Tom lost over half the value of his gains.
Lessons learned
- If you make some money, sell, or at least take half off the table.
- A bird in the hand is absolutely worth two in the bush.
- Have a piece of your portfolio that is continually growing but also accessible.
Andrew’s takeaways
- If you make some gains, take 50% off the table, and keep the other 50%.
No.1 goal for the next 12 months
Tom’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to add value to as many people as possible and be the voice of reason in the insurance space.
Parting words
“Go out there and take those risks. Just make sure you do it responsibly and take those gains off the table when you get them.”
Tom Wall
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