Weekly TEN

(edited transcript) … [Daryl] It’s very, very easy to say, “of course I’m a fiduciary”. Really where you see that actually happen though, is in working with people over time. [Tim] And what does that mean to you? [Daryl] Well, for me, it’s actually just showing you, this is how I am taking care of you, this is how I know and I can reflect back to you, this is in your best interest right now. And whether that’s a hard conversation or whether that’s a positive thing or whatever, and it’s all based on the knowledge that we have of the clients and continue to build on. So I think that’s really valuable. And I think recent events make it really, really clear that in this office, we care about what we do because we care about the people that we serve. [Tim] Absolutely.

(edited transcript) … [Tim] There should be a certain standard of care that goes across the board, and I think that’s about structure. How are you structuring servicing? How are you structuring how you manage portfolios? Are you pulling up portfolios one by one to look at them and see what should be done? Or do you have a way to be able to do it systematically? That’s one of the things we pride ourselves on here on both fronts, is having that system. What we’re always going to make sure we’re doing is addressing those things that are genuine needs for clients wherever they’re at. That’s the point of customization is that it isn’t a one size fits all, and again, that can go both ways. [Daryl] I think I always go back to the adage of any time you’re ending a meeting, I want that person to walk out of the room saying “I was the most important person in the room.” Which is very cutesy in a way, but is also just really a true idiom where you’re basically saying, I want to make sure that I’m listening to you to the best of my ability, so that with the tools that we have, we’re going to hit those things. I mean, to what you’re saying earlier, we can be sophisticated without being complex, and that sophistication is going to hit all of the different needs for a variety of different clients. [Tim] Perfectly said, Daryl.

(edited transcript) … With Dolly Parton’s death, one of the things that’s always impressed me about her is her ability to enjoy the day, at least, that is what it seems like. That’s rare. I think that also helps in terms of longevity. I mean, she seems to have continued doing what she loves. It […]

(edited transcript) … Lots of news around SpaceX. Not a recommendation to buy or sell the stock at all, to be clear. Important lessons from it? I think the number one is, just the power of narratives. A lot of people thought it was a get rich quick scheme. And to date, that has not proven to be the case. In my experience, get rich quick things don’t work. Second point is, because we heard a lot of people calling this new part of their portfolio, “this will be the super growth portfolio” or this will be– your intentions and what the market is going to do are not the same thing. And we watch this, people think that they can speak something into existence as it relates to the markets or their portfolio. Understand what you really own. It isn’t what you’re calling it that matters. What it really is, in general, maybe specific to the environment that you’re in. And then the third main point is again the verdict’s still out. And again, I don’t have one. I’m not expressing one. But the market gets, and investors get, hyper-focused on the short term when you don’t really understand how things are going to work for a much longer time frame. Innovations don’t take 6 to 12 weeks. They take 6 to 12 years or more. Doesn’t make anything a good or bad investment. But even the good investments that you may make are going to get short circuited. If you have an unrealistic time frame that you need those things to manifest. And that’s one of the things, it’s hard enough to pick the right investment. You then start laying on top of it an intention or a need. “I need this thing to double or triple in the next year.” You’ve made it almost impossible to become a successful investor.

(edited transcript) … [Daryl] There’s a saying that basically says, “Getting to your first $1 million is the hardest part.” And after that things get a little bit easier. [Ben] I think in reality, what it is, is the returns might not differ, but getting to the second hurdle, that $2 million mark, 10% of 100,000 is a very different number than 10% of a million. So, it’s like you start to see larger cash dollar amounts as a return. Right? Which gets people more excited because they see these larger dollar amounts. Instead of making 10,000 you’re making 100,000. [Daryl] Well and there’s also that point where you’re contributing– exactly, the same percentage is at play and it just looks like it’s, it’s basically a straight line. And then you hit that exponential piece– [Ben] Which is the same reason why we try to tell younger folks get started early. [Daryl] Exactly! [Ben] Get that 100,000, get that million built up. Because after that you’re going to get the benefit of that 10% return on a much bigger portfolio, which you’re not going to have to put as much of your own money in. And you’re going to be financially independent much earlier on. [Daryl] That also makes me think of a phrase that I like to tell people all the time. I have never met a person who hasn’t said, “I wish I started earlier.” Not a person. I’ve never heard that. But the reality is today is the very earliest that you can start. [Ben] You can’t change the past. [Daryl] You can’t change the past, but you can certainly change today.

(edited transcript) … [Tim] Sunday night when we got the call when we got the call that we were probably going to lose our house– we didn’t, as of right now. When we thought we were losing our home, there wasn’t a single thing we had bought that we were worried about losing. It was the kid’s artwork, some birth certificates, you know, there’s some things we’re like, man, we wish we would have probably put a handful of these things in a fireproof safe, or had one. You build a goal, you build a plan, but you refine it all the time. [Daryl] Yeah, absolutely. We’re a ways from the fire, but it still was just this opportunity for us to talk as a family. I mean, we actually do “top ten” lists all the time. Top ten rides at Disneyland. Top ten mac and cheeses we’ve had around the United States. Like all these things. Like that’s what we do, it’s totally important. But what it did is it afforded the opportunity to go ahead and say, “what is the top ten stuff that you would bring out of the house?” [Tim] Yeah, like when the moment of truth comes, whether it’s stock market volatility, fire, God forbid, you got to have that plan in place. [Daryl] Yeah.

It has been a tough week, and so many in the Spokane community have been impacted. Please know that we are here for you, whether you need help navigating the financial impacts of these fires or simply want to stop by the office for a friendly visit. Stay safe!

(edited transcript) … There’s always a tradeoff. We talked about this in a recent commentary, for one gentleman, he’s like “Well, I just didn’t really want to pay an advisor fee, so I was just doing it myself.” At some point, he realized his lack of confidence and clarity, even in his own abilities, was leading to hold way too much cash, which had a cost. But it was also costing him time away from his family, which he really wanted to have more time with. He was getting up, spending a few hours a day watching TV, reading things. Just that fear of being wrong gets paralyzing. And I get it! Making decisions, making wrong decisions is tough, but just sitting and not doing anything is a problem. Conversely, there are times where you shouldn’t do anything. Or do what at least you feel like you should do. Think, markets plummeting and you’re like, “I got to get out before it keeps going down!” But that’s why being able to articulate things out loud. Have someone, “This is what I hear you say,” “Really? Because that sounds not that great,”– is so helpful. We tell clients all the time, maybe we know more about you than this maybe we don’t, but we’re going to be better together. And I think it’s that idea of a partnership that, again, drives so much of our process.

(edited transcript) … As to the value of prediction markets, they certainly have seemed to be right more times than not. To use that as a true gambling or investing mechanism obviously seems pretty dangerous. You know you can be up a trillion percent and then down just 100% and you’re at zero. Right? And so, respect the downside. I think it’s just indicative though, kind of like the fact that we have more ETFs than we actually have stocks on the stock exchange. Everyone trying to find an angle, as opposed to just doing what they know they should do. Focusing on what they actually can control. Is there some silver bullet or magic mechanism or new take on things that will help get me from point A to point B? Like most things in life, we’ve talked about using weight as an analogy or whatever it may be. We kind of all know what we should do, we just don’t want to do it. It’s not fun, it’s not quick, but it is effective. And so, fix your focus on that outcome of what you want to do. Certainly, understand all the steps that are going to be there, so you’re not surprised or discouraged along the way. Avoid at all costs falling prey to a quick fix.