Overcoming fear in investing: Invest in what you know

I REMEMBER once chatting with a fear counsellor. This person helps people overcome their irrational phobias. As the counsellor explained to me, on its own, fear is not a huge problem – until it impinges on our daily lives and starts to cause us problems.

For instance, the fear of sustaining serious injury is what stops most of us from running across a busy road. In that situation, fear is undoubtedly a good thing – it will prevent us from getting knocked down by a car because of our recklessness.

However, when a phobia stops us from leaving our homes because we are worried that something bad could happen when we are outside our house, then that is when it becomes irrational. That is when we need to seek professional help.