I’m at Epcot today with the family, which reminds me of a story about $ from when I was a kid.
When I was 8 or 9, my brother four, we drove from Syracuse to Florida to see my grandparents. We went to Epcot & Magic Kingdom. It was one of the few vacations we took, or could afford, growing up.
At Epcot, I distinctly remember my parents buying tickets and trying to pass my brother off as an age that either got us a discount or got him in for free. Dad told us to go off to the side while they negotiated with the ticket booth. But the employee wasn’t buying it, and asked me to wheel my brother’s stroller over to verify. I’m 4, Chad said…and the gig was up. We were paying full boat.
My. Dad. Was. Pissed.
It’s a funny story for my brother and I. It’s a reminder that we didn’t have a lot of $ growing up. I’m pretty sure we lived paycheck to paycheck. We drove to Florida, I’m sure, because airfare was too expensive.
Later in life, my parents were able to set aside a little money, they finally had more coming in than was going out. But people like my parents weren’t investors. Even though their son was a financial advisor, they just had CDs and a savings account at several banks. Somebody sold them an annuity without me knowing.
But a little over 10yrs ago, I convinced them to allow me to help them simplify their accounts. Ok, my dad said, but no stock market. I don’t trust it, he said.
What about owning companies, I suggested? My dad worked at Lockeed Martin, his dad at GE, for all of their entire lives. How’d he feel about owning a bit of these businesses, along with other ones like Exxon, Microsoft, JP Morgan (where they had a CD). If the companies did well over time, as they had for his entire life, his investment would go up. He liked the idea but didn’t know how to do it.
It’s called owning equities dad, aka “buying stocks.” He had never thought of it that way, he always viewed stocks as lottery tickets. But he trusted companies and capitalism.
My parents owned a simple, diversified stock portfolio for the last 12yrs or so of their lives. The most unlikely of investors got to experience the magic of compounding & saw their savings more than double by the end of their lives. They couldn’t believe it had happened, and in the end they wished they had started sooner.
Both parents are gone now, mom having passed a few weeks ago. She had more money than they ever had or ever dreamed of having, and way more than they ever saved.
I’m proud of the small role I played in this and what I was able to help my parents do financially, the joy they got from seeing the compounding magic.
I invest the same way my parents did, so my kids will ultimately benefit the way they did and I have. I wish and hope the same for all my clients and their families.
I paid full fare at Epcot this morning, I didn’t have to pinch pennies they way my mom and dad did. And I hope in 30yrs or so, Ty & Payton will be here with their families, even better off financially than I ever was.
That’s what long-term equity investing is all about.
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