Rules of thumb, mental shortcuts (or heuristics as the behavioral finance types like to call them) are an essential part of life. Without the ability to use experience-based rules of thumb to make quick decisions, life would grind to an analysis paralysis-induced halt. But that is not to say that all rules of thumb make sense, and one of the sillier ones in this industry is the way it labels assets as either growth or income.

Why is it that property, which produces around 7% income and a little bit of growth, is described as a growth asset, whereas cash which produces about half that level of income is described as an income asset? That alone should tell ...