A Word On Mission

Five Things You Should Know

1. Equity Markets – moved higher this week with U.S. stocks (S&P 500) up 1.66% and international stocks (EAFE) rising 1.65%  
2. Fixed Income Markets – rose this week with investment-grade bonds (AGG) up 0.57% and high yield bonds (JNK) rising 0.47% 
3. Inflation Cooling? – Following 3 consecutive underwhelming inflation readings, some stock indices reached all-time highs this week following the latest CPI data suggesting inflation may be cooling. While the Fed comments and outlook remained unchanged, markets increased bets that the Fed will soon begin discussion on rate cuts.
4. China Tariffs Rise – This week President Biden announced a new measure increasing tariffs on a wide range of Chinese imports, impacting around $18 billion in current imports. In a bid to incentivize further domestic manufacturing, the tariff increases will target industries such as semiconductors, batteries, critical minerals, port cranes, and medical products amongst others.
5. Key Insight: [VIDEO & ARTICLE] This week we discuss the potential outcomes from establishing a “why” on the front end of planning. 

Weekly Wealth Insights

A Word On Mission

by Dave Gordon

***Graphic designed by TEN Capital Wealth Advisors 5.16.2024

“What you do simply proves what you believe.” – Simon Sinek

Here at TEN Capital, we talk a LOT about mission. The mission of TEN Capital, the mission of the individuals within our practice, and the mission of those we serve. I’ve recently had the pleasure of taking a course on leadership in strategic marketing, and in doing so I’ve been re-introduced to Simon Sinek and his Golden Circle. I don’t know if it’s simply the place in life of where I’m at, but the impact his readings have had on me this time around has been significant. So much so, it is the inspiration behind what I want to share with you all in this week’s commentary 🙂

I would be surprised if you hadn’t seen or heard of the “Give, Save, Spend” jars before. It’s a simple visual to represent a fundamental approach to money management. In fact, my wife and I have introduced this concept to our kids as we begin to introduce them to money management and how this “resource” we call money can be used to move the needle on the things we care about. The normal question we always get from each of our kids’ as to the jars is “Dad, why are there 3 jars”? or “Mom, why do we need to put money in the give jar?”. And when we think we are almost to the point where there can’t be any more questions around “why”, sure enough one of them finds another one.

These questions were constant up until a few months ago when the questions on “why” kind of stopped from all the kids. Tasha and I were reflecting on this, and it was right about the time we decided as a family on what charity all the “give” jars were going to. Each kid got a vote (we have 3, so no tie-breakers were needed), but very quickly the local animal shelter was at the top of each of their lists. Since this became their charity of choice the change in their spending has been visible. More money going into each of their “give” jars monthly. In fact, Tasha and I both sometimes have to talk them through why they shouldn’t put all their money into the give jar. It’s been incredible to watch them allocate their savings each month. Mission drives action, and these kids are motivated to move the needle for this charity; and we’ve really been up front with them that money is simply a resource.  Crazy how human behavior works.

Back to Sinek – Tony Robbins once said, “pattern recognition is the highest level of intelligence”. Sinek’s brilliance is not just in the pattern recognition of human behavior, but providing insight into how to have a consistent and scalable way to facilitate these meaningful conversations as a family, organization, or any group of people rowing in the same direction. What better way to decide on how much to put in each of these jars but by starting with defining your “why”. That was the light-bulb moment for my kids, and since then, I’ve even used this with a few families to help them define their family mission statement. Sinek’s brilliance unfolds here – if done well it can create action for a family by defining the significance and impact they want to see. Money is just a resource, but this lack of defining ones’ why, I’d argue, is why we see so many unhappy wealthy individuals. Maybe we should get back to the simplicity of a child’s perspective on this.

***Graphic designed by TEN Capital Wealth Advisors 5.16.2024

My “why” in my life’s work as a wealth advisor – “I exist to align one’s resources with their life’s purpose, in turn helping them maximize their life’s potential.”

I get out of bed and go to work every day to help you, my client, live an exceptional life. It’s a lofty ambition, but when you hit that target; there’s nothing like it.

To your health and living well-thy –

Dave and the team at TEN

For more information on Simon Sinek and resources used in this article –

The Optimism Company – https://simonsinek.com/golden-circle/Sinek’s 2009 TEDx Talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

Data, Just the Data

U.S. Jobless Claims – fell by 10,000 to 222,000 on the week ending May 11th. This was less than market expectations of 220,000 and was the third highest reading this year. 

U.S. MBA Mortgage Applications – edged 0.5% higher from the previous week in the period ending May 10th. This extended the 2.6% jump from earlier in the month, according to data compiled by the MBA. 

U.S. CPI – rose by 3.4% YoY to 313.5 points in April 2024. This followed a 3.5% increase in March and slightly below the market consensus of a 3.4% advance. 

Eurozone Inflation Rate – was confirmed at 2.4% in April of 2024. This was the same as in March and is holding at levels not seen in nearly three years. A year earlier, the inflation rate was much higher at 7%. 

Eurozone Industrial Production – rose by 0.6% MoM in March 2024. This followed an upwardly revised 1% increase in the prior month and landed slightly higher than market forecasts of a 0.5% advance.