Whenever I tell someone what I do for a living, I always get the same question: So what do you think I should invest in?

Here in the office, many of us swap stories about going to family reunions, birthday parties, even out to dinner and drinks with friends, and always being asked that same question.

I used to see it as one of the setbacks of our profession. But I’ve come to realize that, no matter what you do, eventually someone’s going to ask you for advice. And the advice I was asked about this weekend had nothing to do with investing.

You see, one of the lovely traits of Baltimore living is its ability to push you to get out of the house and mingle with folks you normally wouldn’t. Much of this is due to the incredible amount of free outdoor activities the city hosts, flush with ethnic food and motley bands (usually the same ones every time) wrapped up in a different “theme” for each weekend.

This weekend it was the Baltimore Book Festival that takes place right where your loyal TFN editors and analysts work. Always on the calendar for the end of September, this is one of the best festivals to attend: You get to see world-renowned authors mingle with local struggling poets, eat cheap but tasty fresh-off-the-grill Jamaican food, and swap books or buy them at extremely cheap prices. This is not to mention that the weather is always in accord (not too cold but not too hot) as a great way to kick off the Fall season in Charm City.

I’ve attended the Baltimore Book Festival for nearly ten years. Not wanting to break my streak, I leashed up my dog Ivan (a feisty three-year-old Pug), threw my personal items into a book bag, filled up a water bottle and drove down to the festival for a few hours.

I thought I’d have a relaxing stroll with my dog, check out a few art booths, buy some books, and grab some good eats. Boy, was I wrong.

As soon as Ivan and I started to navigate through the crowd of people, I knew I was in for it. Every ten feet, someone stopped me. Half of the time, it was because they had a Pug and wanted to talk about the funny little things the little guys do or even compare how much my dog sleeps to how much theirs does. The other half of the time, people claiming that they always wanted a Pug stopped me. And then came the question: Do you think I should get one?

While at first I was happy to talk about my favorite breed of dog, the question became a thorn in my side. And it reminded me why people hate being asked for advice: It both puts you on the spot and can be a bit repetitive.

I tried the best I could. I asked them if they had any children because Pugs are known for being very good with kids. I asked them if they had a lot of time to devote to a Pug, since they’re a breed famously known for taking it personally if you’re never home. And I asked them if they knew anything about the breed itself, because they have breathing problems, and other health ailments, particularly as they get older.

Now, I say I tried my best because, just like being asked to give financial advice to people I know well (or even those that I don’t know well), I don’t like giving dog advice to those same people either. Both of those questions carry a lot of weight and represent major life decisions.

How could I tell someone whether or not he or she should get a Pug if I don’t know his or her lifestyle? I don’t know what time they go to work, how many recreational activities they have, what the size of their house or yard is, and how much time they can actually devote to rearing a puppy. Similarly, I generally don’t know the personal individual investment strategy someone has locked in place, the long- and short-term goals they’re trying to reach, or even the amount of money they have in their account when they ask me what they should invest in.

People often look for advice on something when they want you to justify the decision they’ve already made for themselves. And if you go against that, well they very well may argue with you.

Here at TFN, we try to give you the best advice we can. I maintain however, at least with every opportunity I speak about personally, that if the advice doesn’t jive with your personal investment strategy, or it’s too expensive for you, it’s ok to forgo it. We don’t expect that you’ll be able to take action on every opportunity we highlight. Sometimes, the exact opportunity we point to may be wrong for your own strategy.

For example: When I first recommended Taser International (TASR:NASDAQ), which by the way is on a tear again recently, I had many readers write in to say that, instead of buying the stock, they traded call options on TASR, and made out fantastically well. The calls were cheaper for them to buy, and gave them the quick gains they were looking for.

That’s just as good to me: traders who saw not only a long-term opportunity on TASR, but a near-term one as well, and thought it a good action in their portfolio to make a little money.

I’ve also been lucky enough recently to receive fantastic emails from my Diligent Investor subscribers, thanking me for my advice:

“Thanks a bunch for all of the recent recommendations. I only wish that your advice [was] the only one I had been following for my investment portfolio over the last 12 months. The truth be known, I would be up for the year, instead of down 25%.”
- Diligent Investor subscriber J.

Truth be told, all of us here at TFN try our hardest to give you the best information we can on advantageous investment and trading opportunities.

And, while testimonials about awesome gains from our advice are very welcome, we hate nothing more than hearing that a position you invested all of your money in didn’t pan out.

Our goal is simple: to help you become a smarter, more informed investor. But if an opportunity we highlight doesn’t seem a good fit for your lifestyle and personal investment strategy, it’s ok to bypass it. We won’t be mad at you.

After all, the best advice you can ever take is your own.

Ann