Good Parenting
Liza and I like to think that we grew up in a pretty strict household. Curfew was 10pm until the day we left for college. We had to attend swim practice every day except Sunday. We sang in the choir every Sunday. The day after Halloween was the only day we were allowed to eat candy. We ate whatever our mother put on the table for dinner. I vividly remember a stern talking to when I came home at 10:05pm one Friday night. It felt like a lot of discipline.
I can’t speak for Liza, but when I got to college, I rebelled and threw all that discipline to the wind. My best homework hours were 11pm – 2am. I wore the forever labelled scandalous spaghetti strap tank tops. I ate candy, drank soda and coffee, and ordered pizza whenever I wanted it. I thought to myself, “hey, I’m still getting pretty good grades and fulfilling all my responsibilities. Take that, Mom and Dad!” When I graduated from college and started my first “big kid job”, I realized most of my best habits and qualities were instilled during days growing up in the McDevitt household. I worked hard because I understood dedication, courtesy of all those swim practices. I love a good night’s sleep (ok, bedtime is 11pm now) because I function better the next day. I never gained the freshman 15. Healthy habits that keep me happy now are byproducts of all that discipline I used to dread. It only took me 20 years to realize the benefits of discipline.
Now, my husband Sam and I are expecting our first child (Ralph’s 3rd grandchild!) in November. We’re starting to think about how we want to parent our child. We have many excellent role models, all with different parenting techniques and types of discipline. I’m sure we’ll make parenting choices as a couple, then evolve them over time. However, one thing we both agree on is that once we do decide, we’re going to be on the same page about it, stick to that plan, and modify only if necessary.
One of our team’s core beliefs is investment discipline. We had lunch with an investment consultant last week, and as he was talking about his firm’s belief in long-term outcomes achieved through a repeatable process, he said, “The longer you stick with us, the better you like us.” I immediately interjected, “That sounds like good parenting.”
When we were young, Liza and I weren’t big fans of the parental discipline Ralph and Tink enforced on a daily basis. We had excuses about how our approach was better, or they were being unnecessarily overbearing. But now, we realize that all that discipline came from a deep caring for us to grow, succeed, and thrive. And that it worked!
Your portfolio is similar. The same consultant shared a comment from a portfolio manager: “It’s better to have and not need than to need and not have. ”Your asset allocation (ratio of stocks, bonds, and cash), your individual investment selections, and other investment recommendations we offer are part of a disciplined plan meant to help you succeed and achieve your goals in the long run. While it may not feel like the most fun in the moment – the S&P 500 just delivered the worst first half to the year in 52 years – sticking to the discipline moderates the impact of challenging periods. Joe Zidle’s July essay reminds us:
“During challenging conditions, people seem to forget that economic cycles are just that—cyclical. And that cycles have their ups and their downs. In the end, healthy economies grow, and markets generally move up and to the right over long periods.”
It takes a while to realize the benefits of discipline, but I can tell you from my own good parenting that I’m sure glad I had it when I needed it.
Grace Loveland July 15, 2022
Any opinions are those of Ralph McDevitt and not necessarily those of Raymond James.
The information contained in this report does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. There is no assurance any of the trends mentioned will continue or forecasts will occur. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks that is generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market.
