When I open the door on the left and sit in the driver's seat of the new car, I am a bundle of nerves. There is panic as I do not know the American roads. Speeding within the city is something I have no experience of. Everything I read in the manual for drivers is a blur as I start the engine. Tri is my new driving instructor and she tells me that I will be fine. In the 20 hours over the last month in which she taught me to drive, park, back-up and feel safe on the roads, we have spoken a lot. She about driving and I about investing, and trust me there is a lot in common. This story is about our conversations and the lessons we both gathered.
The fear of the unknown is so big that it can lead to paranoia and paralysis in the extreme. Tri tells me about people who refuse to drive from imagined fears of the road and of accidents and laughs as she speaks. She tells me that getting used to the road can come only by being there and it would be a pleasant surprise to see how one can get comfortable with it. I tell her about behavioural biases and how accidents always make front-page news and how people could be overestimating the risks. We agree that for a few who may have suffered horrible accidents, millions continue to drive safely. And despite the bold front-page news about one crises or the other in the financial markets, millions invest and benefit quite routinely. It is about getting out there.
