Welcome to Dinergy’s risk assessment tool. By clicking the continue button, you’ll answer a few questions to learn how you feel about financial risk. As a security measure, you’ll leave our website and create an account with Nitrogen, our analytics partner. Your personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses will be kept strictly confidential.

Talk…about money

Meet Sexy Dexy

by | Oct 15, 2026 | Investing

The Bengals made a pretty interesting move this offseason when they traded the No. 10 overall pick to the Giants for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who has picked up the nickname “Sexy Dexy.”

I have to admit, I enjoy the irony. There’s nothing particularly sexy about playing defensive tackle. You’re not catching 50-yard touchdown passes. You’re not doing a choreographed celebration after a big catch. You’re generally spending your afternoon trying to make life miserable for a very large offensive lineman who would prefer that you leave him and his quarterback alone.

And yet, the Bengals clearly decided that what happens in the middle of that defensive line is pretty important.  It is looking like they were right. That’s actually a great lesson for investing. Some of the most important parts of your financial plan are not exciting either.

Cash reserves aren’t sexy. Insurance isn’t sexy. Bonds aren’t usually the investment you brag about at the sports stag. Diversification isn’t going to make you the most interesting person when having lunch with friends. But they can be incredibly important when things get difficult.

That’s the funny thing about investing. The things that make the biggest difference aren’t always the things that get the most attention. Everybody wants to talk about the next great stock. Nobody wants to talk about making sure they have enough liquidity to avoid selling that stock at the wrong time.

Everybody wants growth. Not everybody wants to talk about protecting what they’ve already built. That’s where depth and balance matter. The Bengals didn’t trade a first-round pick for Dexter Lawrence because defensive tackle was suddenly the most exciting position in football. They did it because they believe what happens in the middle of the defense can make the entire team better.

Sometimes the least glamorous part of your portfolio is doing the heaviest lifting. So maybe there really is something sexy about defensive line play after all. Or maybe the lesson is simply that when the boring stuff is doing its job, the exciting stuff gets a lot easier to enjoy.