Wisdom for Money...Wisdom for Life

Barely a month since Christmas and in today's Wisdom for the Weekend, the gift giving season continues.

Gift #1

As I've said many times, one of the greatest gifts we advisors can give is the gift of perspective. In this issue, we have lots of perspective for you. Take your time and enjoy the following, which will briefly summarize the astounding progress of the last 50 years.

Here's a summary*:

Commentary

My encouragement is simply to take in what you just saw. Global population doubled while the S&P 500 rose nearly 75 times, earnings rose 35 times and dividends 21 times. Inflation? Consumer prices increased 6 times. Again — company shares dramatically out-paced inflation. Yet, there's more...

50 years ago, half of the world's population lived in extreme poverty as it is defined.

Today, that number has been reduced to 1 in 10 humans!

Amidst all of this, the United States remains the superpower with unimaginable room to grow.

There's still more, but enough for now. The next time catastrophic journalism tries to steal your peace of mind, recall these amazing truths.

More Perspective

James Carville, campaign manager for then candidate Bill Clinton, was famously quoted during the campaign that got Clinton elected to focus on the economy. His marching orders to the campaign were:

"It's the economy, stupid."

Gift #2 — Optimism

I've always agreed with Nick Murray that optimism is the only realism. Daniel Kahneman identified the benefits of optimism as a critical component of an effective life.

We hope perspective and optimism are good gifts to you as we begin 2026! These are two gifts that are ideal to regift. Many people in your orbit might be in need of them.

*NMI, January 2025 Accessed 1/12/26

** Accessed 1/14/26. NMI, Vol 26, Issue 1. Page 3

Thanks for reading,
Tim O'Connor