My Core Position

I’ve broken my New Year’s resolution before I’ve even made it. Actually, I made it two years ago and haven’t kept it once. If anything, the situation has gotten worse. I’m talking about my obsession with YouTube videos. I can’t say it’s been entirely wasteful, though. I’ve learned about Jack the Ripper (everything but his identity), the “hidden engineering” of landfills, the history of waffles, medieval punishments, problems in particle physics (as opposed to wave physics, I suppose), and how to land a commercial jet if both pilots become incapacitated. How can any of that be wasteful?

The real problem is that I’ve gone down the rabbit hole of finance videos about retirement. And now that I mention it, last night I watched a video about the difference between rabbits and hares. Here’s a clue: rabbits live in burrows, so it’s plausible to talk about going down their holes even if you don’t fit. Hares, on the other hand, run around like bunny kangaroos in open grassland. The simile doesn’t hold.

After hours of watching finance videos, I can now speak somewhat intelligently with my advisor about exchange‑traded funds (ETFs), index funds, high‑yield dividend stocks in an IRA, gold‑mining shares, and even put options. Don’t get me wrong — I know just enough to be dangerous, but I’m also careful enough not to go off the rails. I just want to set everything on the right track and let the retirement train move steadily down the line. I have no problem with it not being a bullet train. And I’m certainly not trying to time the market, not with so many apocalyptic types going apoplectic on social media.

In this latest investment jag, I’ve been moving funds around in my portfolio. The mechanics involve selling a stock or asset before buying another. When I do that, the money drops into what’s called a “core position,” usually a money market account managed by the investment company. Think of the core position as home base or a default setting from which most trades take place, whether buying or selling. If you’re in healthcare, imagine a resting heart rate or—literally—your core. I like that analogy, since I’ve got money in health services.

It’s not a stretch to imagine a core position in other areas. I’m thinking psychologically, spiritually, existentially. What is your core position beyond finance, and how often do you return to it to buy or sell, as it were? And what are you buying or selling? Is your core a position of strength grounding the rest of the portfolio, or simply a holding pattern for indecision? I can think of techniques, practices, and even institutions designed to bring you back to your core. Personally, I like the confessional: it’s clear, direct, and offers practical ways for me to realign myself.

I’ve run into core positions in boxing too, although we don’t call them that. What kind of boxer are you—out‑boxer, in‑fighter, counterpuncher, pressure fighter, switch‑hitter, swarmer? My answer has always been: whatever keeps me from getting punched in the face. Mike Tyson had something to say about that. Our different responses reveal our core positions. He accepted getting punched in the face as the entry fee to the sport. As a mere club boxer, I am reluctant to pay it.

They say that in any street fight or threatening situation, you don’t rise to the occasion — you fall back to your level of training. This is why elite athletes and soldiers train so hard. They’re strengthening their core position so they can defend themselves and eliminate the threat, blood or no blood. This reminds me of the two toughs in DeLillo’s Pastry Shop in the Bronx, whom I’ve written about before. They were talking about a third guy and how they planned to find out what he was “made of” (see Who Are You?). They had something specific in mind. I didn’t ask, although I kept an eye on the local news for days afterward.

Geneticists and evolutionary biologists claim that you can alter your DNA to some degree in response to the environment. If that’s true, then the core position can be modified. I find that hopeful. I don’t have to be stuck with the same old version of myself (see I Gotta Be Me?). I can change, add to, or subtract from my core position. Here’s the thing, though. No matter what I choose to do — notice the free will — there will always be a core position. It’s better to stay on top of it for the new year, 2026, especially if things go south.

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