[Snowman]

Originally Posted by cardsagain74

When it comes to this "I'm not taking a loss" subject, you have little understanding of what often drives human behavior.

Grown adults often do exactly what you're mocking there (with something like their Pfizer stock). They absolutely DO think your exact foot-stopping quote of "I'm not gonna sell until a get a profit!", regardless of what the sensible allocation of their investments should be going forward. Has nothing to do with whether it's a "collector" or "investor"; it's the same principle for anyone involved with a speculative asset. The only time that many can stomach and justify taking the loss is (as brought up above) when it's to offset capital gains.

It's easy for someone to get married to their purchase price (human nature for a number of unflattering or poorly thought-out reasons.) And on the flip side, they also take profits for the wrong reasons. Because what you "made" isn't the key factor either, except for tax purposes. Once you own something, the purchase price is a sunk cost. All that matters is what the value is now, what could happen going forward, your risk tolerance at the current value for that asset, what portion it is of your overall portfolio, etc. But I digress.

Rationality isn't what dictates decisions sometimes. Especially when it comes to this.

Ya for sure. I agree 100%. A lot of people think this way. Especially with cards. But it's more of an emotional attachment. It's not rational or logical behavior. I didn't mean to imply that people don't act like this. I only intended to point out that there is also no shortage of people who don't. Of which I am one. I don't care one bit what I paid for something. I only make decisions based on what it's worth today. I also wanted to make the point that this mindset is more in line with an investor than a pure collector.