Comments on: Two Good Ways to Respond to Poor Decisions and Sunk Costs http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/ Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:34:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Queercents » Blog Archive » Queercents Weekly Roundup: Now With A Drag Queen! http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15118 Queercents » Blog Archive » Queercents Weekly Roundup: Now With A Drag Queen! Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:00:44 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15118 [...] love reading about the sunk-cost fallacy.  Mrs. Micah has two ways to handle these poor choices. (Read it at Finance for a Freelance [...] [...] love reading about the sunk-cost fallacy.  Mrs. Micah has two ways to handle these poor choices. (Read it at Finance for a Freelance [...]

]]> By: Dad http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15095 Dad Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:31:55 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15095 You make some excellent points. In the market, I once read some advice given by a well-known financier. Someone like J.P. Morgan or John Rockefeller. If you make an investment, the best thing to do is to re-evaluate it. If you had the money today that it would be worth if you sold it now, would you buy the same stock again? If not, you should sell it and invest in what you see as better. There are a bunch of caveats in this. First, getting out of one stock and into another will cost money. So you have to compare what you see if the future of the current stock versus the future of the other one if you invest what is left after getting out and getting in. If you make a bad decision cut you losses. Anything else sounds a lot like not being willing to admit you made a mistake. You make some excellent points. In the market, I once read some advice given by a well-known financier. Someone like J.P. Morgan or John Rockefeller. If you make an investment, the best thing to do is to re-evaluate it. If you had the money today that it would be worth if you sold it now, would you buy the same stock again? If not, you should sell it and invest in what you see as better. There are a bunch of caveats in this. First, getting out of one stock and into another will cost money. So you have to compare what you see if the future of the current stock versus the future of the other one if you invest what is left after getting out and getting in. If you make a bad decision cut you losses. Anything else sounds a lot like not being willing to admit you made a mistake.

]]> By: Dana http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15072 Dana Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:06:03 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15072 @Cath: I know just what you mean. I moved to a new state to be near a new love and thought everything would go well, the signs were good, and six months later it was all going south. But I held on because I felt stupid for taking that big of a chance. Well, I got my daughter out of not cutting my losses, so it wasn't a completely bad thing, but on the other hand I'm stuck with him too. I can be pretty good at cutting losses in other cases. But it depends, and even when I manage it, I feel like I'm just being a quitter. And there is some merit in not being a quitter, but where do you draw the line between giving something up that is not serving your life purpose, and giving up just because things got difficult? @Cath: I know just what you mean. I moved to a new state to be near a new love and thought everything would go well, the signs were good, and six months later it was all going south. But I held on because I felt stupid for taking that big of a chance.

Well, I got my daughter out of not cutting my losses, so it wasn’t a completely bad thing, but on the other hand I’m stuck with him too.

I can be pretty good at cutting losses in other cases. But it depends, and even when I manage it, I feel like I’m just being a quitter. And there is some merit in not being a quitter, but where do you draw the line between giving something up that is not serving your life purpose, and giving up just because things got difficult?

]]> By: Cath Lawson http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15069 Cath Lawson Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:53:36 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15069 Hi Mrs M - five years would be an awful long time to play tennis and not like it. If I was sure something was not going to work, I'd get rid of it. I used to be terrible for holding on to things I'd had for years. And believe me, once you start getting rid of all that clutter, it seems easier to give up the bigger things somehow and not regret the loss or the time and money wasted. I've lost tens of thousands through cutting my losses and I would do it again tomorrow if I had to. Relationships are much the same - I spent years in a bad marriage because I kept hoping it would get better. And my regrets about those lost years are probably deeper because I hung on too long. Hi Mrs M – five years would be an awful long time to play tennis and not like it.

If I was sure something was not going to work, I’d get rid of it. I used to be terrible for holding on to things I’d had for years. And believe me, once you start getting rid of all that clutter, it seems easier to give up the bigger things somehow and not regret the loss or the time and money wasted.

I’ve lost tens of thousands through cutting my losses and I would do it again tomorrow if I had to.

Relationships are much the same – I spent years in a bad marriage because I kept hoping it would get better. And my regrets about those lost years are probably deeper because I hung on too long.

]]> By: mrsmicah http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15037 mrsmicah Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:24:07 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15037 @JW, Micah realized that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life as a code monkey. He liked the abstract part of it better than doing what he felt was repetitive and uncreative. He'd also gotten a minor in Philosophy and knew he enjoyed teaching...they just flowed together and I think it was a great decision. @JW, Micah realized that he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life as a code monkey. He liked the abstract part of it better than doing what he felt was repetitive and uncreative. He’d also gotten a minor in Philosophy and knew he enjoyed teaching…they just flowed together and I think it was a great decision.

]]> By: Ron@TheWisdomJournal http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15034 Ron@TheWisdomJournal Fri, 21 Mar 2008 13:08:09 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15034 Neat post. I have a tendency to abandon and move on. Life is too short! Neat post. I have a tendency to abandon and move on. Life is too short!

]]> By: JW Thornhill http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15020 JW Thornhill Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:44:24 +0000 http://financefreelancelife.com/2008/03/20/two-good-ways-to-respond-to-poor-decisions-and-sunk-costs/#comment-15020 Congratulations Micah on finishing up on your PhD. in Philosophy. I just finised my MS IT and I'm currently working on an MBA in Information Management. But, I'm curious what made you decide to come out of IT? Congratulations Micah on finishing up on your PhD. in Philosophy. I just finised my MS IT and I’m currently working on an MBA in Information Management. But, I’m curious what made you decide to come out of IT?

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