All eggs in one basket? 孤注一掷

Reader question:

Please explain this quote: I don’t like all my eggs in one basket.

My comments:

If the speaker is an investor, then he’s someone who has a diverse and broad, um, portfolio.

Portfolio? He has a variety of investments, in other words. That way, he minimizes the risk he stands to suffer when one of the investments fails to deliver.

That’s why he doesn’t like all his eggs in one basket.

The proper idiom or proverb in question here is: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Literally, if you put all your eggs in one basket and that basket falls to the floor in, say, a road accident, all your eggs may be broken and damaged.

Ruined you are, in consequence.

That’s too great a risk to take. So, the good advice is, put your eggs in two or more baskets, so that when something bad happens, you risk losing some of your eggs but not all of them.

Metaphorically speaking, “all your eggs” represent all your possessions or belongings, or what you have, all you have, whatever you have.

And by not putting all your eggs in one basket, you’re not risking it all when you embark on some endeavor or adventure.

Hence, if you are someone who likes to put all your eggs in one basket, you’re a risk taker. You believe in all or nothing. You like to go all out and give your all, come hell or high water.

On the other hand, if you don’t like to put all your eggs in one basket, you like to minimize the risk when you embark on something adventurous and risky. You like options. You don’t make just one plan. You have a Plan B, perhaps a Plan C as well, plus a Plan D.

In terms investments, the all-eggs-in-one-basket guy may, for instance, buy shares of one company on the stock market and focus on that, one company alone.

The not-all-eggs-in-one basket guy may buy a variety of stocks, some high-tech (Apple and Google, for instance), others traditional (Coca Cola, for example).

Which approach is better?

To each his own.

It’s up to you. It’s your money at risk, after all.

If, in case, you put all your eggs in one basket, you’d better watch that basket, as Mark Twain would say.

Here are media examples of putting all your eggs in one basket:

1. DUSTIN POIRIER has put “all his eggs in one basket” by choosing a trilogy fight with Conor McGregor over a title shot.

The UFC brass offered the former interim lightweight champion a second crack at the undisputed title earlier this year.

Fan favourite Poirier, however, snubbed another opportunity at UFC gold in favour of a lucrative rubber match with McGregor, whom he’ll meet again in July.

Chandler understands the Louisiana native’s reasoning for taking a third fight with The Notorious but reckons it’s a huge risk given the potential ramifications of a second loss to the Irishman.

The 35-year-old told DAZN: “I even think Conor has the advantage.

“I also think mentally Conor has the advantage because now they’re one and one. They both have finishes over each other.

“But the caveat is Dustin let it ride and put all his eggs in one basket and passed up on the UFC title shot to fight Conor McGregor. Now, of course, he might make more money.

“Of course, it’s maybe a bigger fight with more eyeballs, but you still passed up on the UFC title.

“You lose this fight against Conor, I fight Conor next, and now he’s going to have to go through Justin Gaethje again, or he’s going have to go through another guy inside the top five to get the title shot.”

- ‘LET IT RIDE’ Dustin Poirier has ‘put all his eggs in one basket’ by accepting UFC 264 trilogy with Conor McGregor, says Chandler, The-Sun.com, May 16 2021.

2. Prince Charles absolutely stans his granddaughter Lilibet, and is completely desperate to meet her. Even though she’s only been on the scene for three months, Charles is obsessed, and will go to any length (perhaps even appearing on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s podcast) in order to get close to her.

“I think Prince Charles really wants to meet his granddaughter,” royal expert Nick Bullen told Us Weekly. “Prince Charles is incredibly sad about everything that’s gone on. So the family will want to meet each other.”

If you need a reminder about “everything that’s gone on,” Prince Harry and Meghan have left royal life in favor of becoming content creators, mostly due to racism from the royal family.

Bullen believes that all of that will be put aside next summer, when the family comes together to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. The Queen will be celebrating both 70 years on the throne and 96 years on earth, and if Harry and Meghan do attend the family is expected to put aside their differences (again, racism) to honor the monarch.

“Everyone’s going to have to play nicely and behave well because it’s the Queen’s moment,” Mullen said.

Waiting until next summer to meet his granddaughter feels a little bit like Prince Charles putting all his eggs in one basket. After all, Elizabeth has stuck around all these years keeping him off the throne, it would be fitting that she kicks in just in time to stop him from becoming un-estranged from his son.

- PRINCE CHARLES EXHIBITS FAN BEHAVIOR TOWARD GRANDDAUGHTER LILIBET, Gawker.com, September 16, 2021.

3. The term “FOMO” is defined as “a state of mental or emotional strain caused by the fear of missing out.” It’s also a form of social anxiety — a compulsive concern that one might miss an opportunity or satisfying event, often aroused by posts seen on social media websites.

Although it is natural for people to experience FOMO, such anxiety can lead us to make bad decisions.

Judgment should not be clouded by the desire to fit in or fear of being left out of the fun. This is especially true when it comes to our hard-earned money. Just because your friends and neighbors are investing in a certain stock or asset class doesn’t mean it's an appropriate investment for you.

Oftentimes, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

That’s why it's important to slow down, research that investment opportunity everyone’s talking about and consider its long-term impact on your financial well-being and goals.

Those who are new to investing and/or have suddenly come into significant wealth can be especially vulnerable to letting FOMO overtake them when they hear about hot investment tips or opportunities.

How would they know better? Like any other skill, investing takes time to master. Therefore, most investors could benefit from experts who they trust to develop and implement an appropriate investment strategy that reflects their goals and values.

Guiding investor clients through periods of stock market volatility has illustrated how “successful” investing is determined by the amount of time spent in the market — not timing the market.

As the saying goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” A savvy investor will take a gradual, broad-based approach. To that point, it’s not smart to invest your entire stimulus check or year-end bonus in a single company you’ve read is going to be the next big thing.

Of course, you could buy some shares of that company if you can afford to lose every penny, but we recommend starting simple and obtaining broad-based market exposure through, for example, passive, index-tracking exchange-traded funds, so you can learn how the market works.

- Op-ed: Don’t let fear of missing out control your investment decisions, CNBC.com, September 30, 2021.

本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣 编辑：丹妮）