“I’m gonna buy a gun.” Those were the words my dad muttered one day when he came home from work as a pharmacist, circa 1982.
My mother gave him a look, her brow furrowed, but she refrained from asking clearly justifiable questions. He didn’t offer a further explanation. It was a surreal, hang-in-the-air moment in our household, because nobody dared ask what he meant by that riveting remark.
The next day, the town newspaper published a story about how a local pharmacy had been held up at gunpoint, and all the employees had been bound and made to lie face down on the floor while the armed suspects ransacked the drug shelves for narcotics. It was the early 1980s in South Florida, a time known as the “Miami Drug Wars,” which gave rise to the notorious Columbian Cocaine Cowboys and the TV show, “Miami Vice”. We now knew why he uttered those words.
Had that single flash in time turned out in the worst possible way, my life would have changed dramatically. My parents didn’t own life insurance, they had little money saved, and my mom did not work outside the home. My breathing slows when I ponder what that tragedy would have looked like for my brother and me, and especially my mom. Growing up poor was a real possibility.
All this to say, here we are in 2020. In the blink of an eye, it seems, our lives have taken a major turn, because of a sneaky, harmful, invisible germ. This new world also seems surreal to me because the warming weather is drawing people outside. I think about all the families forced to stay home, struggling to explain to their kids why they can’t go to school or visit their friends. There are millions lined up at food pantries and collecting unemployment insurance to cover the rent and utilities. The concept of uncertainty is real and palpable.
Foster Group has been educating clients for years to “Embrace Uncertainty” when it comes to accessing capital markets through investment portfolios.
I have wondered recently if we must “embrace” it when hugging uncertainty during a 100-year pandemic. Who loves uncertainty? Yet in the context of the investment picture, it is still reasonable and suitable. Without uncertainty and volatility, market returns tend to flatten out. Without volatility, the market struggles to reach new highs. For my part, I’m willing to accept, even embrace, uncertainty today for a better tomorrow.
I’ve also been thinking about facts versus hearsay. When I was a teenager, my dad told me to ignore everything I “hear” and believe only half of what I “read”. He offered that advice in the analog age, not the digital age. Looking back I don’t know if he learned that maxim the hard way, but on balance, I’d say he got it right. Even in the financial advice business, there are many trying to hawk their well-engineered products or methods, and they seem to work astoundingly well right up to the moment they don’t. Is it me, or are once-in-a-lifetime events happening every 10-15 years?
At Foster Group, truly caring for our clients means taking the time to learn what’s in their hearts and using proven methods to help them pursue their goals.
We help create financial solutions that uncomplicate life. So if you’re feeling like the earth is shifting underneath your feet and you want advice from an organization founded on a layer of bedrock, we are here to help. Contact us, we look forward to speaking with you.
