SCOTT REED

It’s a snow day in my hometown of Tupelo as I write this column.It is already 2 in the afternoon and it hasn’t snowed yet, but it is still a snow day.

Classes at schools have been canceled and shops are closed on Main Street. I slept late because I had no deliveries to make this morning to the high school or the middle school.

There also were no classes at our area schools the day before, and we did get just less than an eighth of an inch of snow, so at least we could see what was causing all of this concern.

I don’t blame the school system for calling off class. They have to make decisions with regard to safety and do so in a manner that gives all of those parents a chance to make other plans when their children are not in school.

I would have called off class if I were in charge. It was the right thing to do.

Our town reacted as all towns do when faced with new and different things – it panicked.

Panic may be too strong a word, but yesterday I went to the grocery store for a few things. The store was packed with people. I needed bread, not to stock up, but because we were really out. The store was out as well.

Last night I had to drive to Oxford, a trip discouraged by many as being too dangerous due to the winter weather warnings, and when I stopped for gas, all of the regular gas was gone. People were stocking up in case they might be without power for days due to the Great Snow Storm of 2014.

Better safe than sorry. I understand that and I applaud it. I am an Eagle Scout, and I believe in being prepared.

But here we are two days later with no snow and bags of rock salt ready to go on roads that don’t need it. As a matter of fact, we ran out of rock salt at the stores as well, I am told.

My wife is from the Pacific Northwest and I can tell you that no one out there would go to the store to stock up for a snow storm with the potential to get as much as 2 inches of snow. They get that for lunch on a good day in the winter.

They live with that threat and they have the snow plows and generators to prove it. For us in the South, it is an unusual occurrence and we tend to overreact accordingly. We don’t handle this very well.

Investing has similar issues.

When you are in your comfort zone, you can get the most out of your investments. When you are not comfortable, you make mistakes. Those mistakes can cost you a lot of money over the years.

In order to get the most out of your investments, you have to find your comfort zone and stay there. Don’t let other people with different comfort zones entice you to do what they do. It doesn’t matter what they do. What matters is that you get the most out of what you do.

Do be do be do.

Scott Reed is CEO of investment advisory firm Hardy Reed in Tupelo. Contact him at (662) 823-4722 or sreed@hardyreed.com.