As much as I love Bobby Caldwell's song, this isn't about that. It's about value investing, return on investment, and the story you tell yourself about your value.
When you take a job, you give an employer time, skill, and knowledge so that you can help them be profitable. In exchange, you get a salary and other benefits - a dividend.
But before you take the job you think to yourself, how will this job make money for me? When will it make money? What will my return on investment be like? Do I know the industry enough to feel comfortable this will succeed?
Jump forward, now you're in the job.
You continue investing your time and skill and you receive the salary. But, you start to find the value of your investment is decreasing. Other people are investing the same as you, but they are receiving a much higher yield on cost than you. The value of your investment decreases.
Do you stay, collect the dividends as and when they come, and hold the investment who's value is decreasing? Or do you sell at a loss, learn, and move on?
Perhaps you're only holding the investment because you want the dividends and don't care about the decreasing value of the stock?
Perhaps you were waiting to see if things would change?
Perhaps you're afraid of what would happen if you sold? What would you do?
And more importantly, what won't you do?
