For the unemployed oil field worker, the exhausted nurse or teacher, the farmer squeezed by low corn prices and bad weather, or the widow enduring her first Christmas alone, these days feel anything but “merry and bright.”

But here’s one thing that’s true:

Difficult circumstances have a way of revealing what matters most.

Hard times can refocus us. They can remind us not to let trivial matters blind us to important things.

That’s one of the reasons I am so thankful for Christmas. It’s the season that reminds me there are valuable things that don’t decrease in value when life takes a turn (socially, politically, economically) I didn’t expect or want. 

Take just a moment to think of the things that fit that description – things whose value isn’t altered by external circumstances. Family. Love. Friends. Laughter. Faith. God.

The essence of the Christmas story is something (Someone!) of greatest worth wrapped in the humblest of packages. A baby … born in obscurity…born to poverty … lying in an animal feed trough for goodness sake…sent to save the world! 

It didn’t seem like a very likely solution to many people then. And for sure, not everyone sees it that way today. 

But whether you do or don’t, I hope you’ll take some time this Christmas season to reflect on (and be grateful for) all the things in life that are inherently valuable regardless of external circumstances. 

You (the readers of this space) are one of those things for me. The opportunity to have this conversation with you in good times as well as trying times is a stewardship I do not take lightly. I am thankful for you.

I’m grateful for family. By the time you read this, the Moores will have welcomed a second grandchild into the world in 2020 (so this hasn’t been a bad year at all for my clan!). I’ve got friends I’ve known and loved for 40 years. It has been my privilege to work with a staff of caring professionals that make me better each year…my oldest son has joined me in my financial planning practice – a dream come true! I’ve got a church family that encourage my spiritual growth and constantly reminds me of God’s goodness.

One of the best ways to reflect on how 2020 has impacted you and how you can prepare yourself for the best 2021 possible is to ask yourself the right questions. I’ve got a short, free e-book I wrote just for this time of year. It’s titled The Three Financial Questions You Should Be Asking for 2021. It’s my gift to anyone who requests it. Get your copy by writing to: bmoore@argentadvisors.com. 

We all hope the days ahead will bring a receding pandemic and brighter economic news. But whenever that news comes, may this season bring you much joy, much gratitude, and much recognition of that which is truly valuable in your life.

That’s the stuff circumstances can’t touch.

Merry Christmas!

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

These are not academic questions unrelated to our daily if Coronavirus-interrupted lives. 

In fact, your answer to these questions will drive how you respond during and after the worldwide pandemic.

Is wealth the sum of all the money in all the banks in the world? How about all the oil and gas in the ground? The timber in the forests?

There are some 100 million iPhone users in the United States. Suppose some evil empire somewhere devised a way to deactivate all of them at the same time such that they became useless. Nothing more than an $800 paperweight. Would that take us back to life before the iPhone (waaaay back in 2007)?

Answer: no. Why not? Because we know how to make them now and we could make more. The wealth is not fundamentally in the iPhone itself, but in the knowledge of how to create it. 

That’s really, really crucial to understand if we are to react to the economic devastation being wrecked by this pandemic. Right now, we’re seeing headline after headline of economic damage being done by the shutdown of our economy. Record unemployment. Record low demand for oil. Record numbers of small businesses shutting down. All of it very real. And very painful. 

Back to the original question – what is wealth?

When stock markets decline, housing markets languish, oil prices plunge and small businesses disappear, is wealth being destroyed?

Yes. But only in the sense that the tree is being pruned, not destroyed. If you’ve never seen a master gardener pruning a tree, it isn’t always pretty. She reduces what looked to be a healthy, lush plant into a twig of its former self. Sitting there, denuded and defrocked of its former glory, you wonder what good is supposed to come of this?

But if the plant or tree has a properly functioning root system (the stuff under the ground one cannot see), the tree can grow to new heights – even bigger than before. All made possible by the pruning. 

OK, I get it. The analogy only goes so far. No one would grant the Coronavirus the same status as a caring gardener tending her plot. 

My point is to draw our attention to that which lies beneath the seen. The roots. Often larger than the plant itself, it is the root system which determines the ultimate health of the plant and its potential for growth after a season of pruning.  

Capital is the means to create wealth. So, a factory can be capital. Land can be capital. And financial tools (stocks, bonds, cash) can also be seen as capital. 

But the most fundamental kind of capital is human capital. Human capital is the knowledge, skills, and experience possessed by someone that may have value to others. An iPhone is one level kind of wealth. Knowing how to make one is an even more fundamental kind of wealth. 

Human capital creates all other kinds of capital. And while all the other kinds of capital can be “pruned,” the root system of human capital will determine whether or not the “above the ground” capital will grow back. 

So, what should you do with this understanding of human capital?

There are many opportunities now, and I suspect more will come, of companies with fundamentally sound root systems whose experience of Coronavirus-driven “pruning” will lower their stock price and make them attractive long-term buys.

At the individual level, many of us find ourselves with more time on our hands than we are used to. You can spend all that free time binging on Netflix. 

Or you can be one of the few who choose to invest in themselves, deepening their own root systems and making themselves more valuable to the marketplace.

Because wealth is all out there. 

It’s in there. In you.

How will you grow yours?

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information at http://www.ruston.argentadvisors.com/important-disclosure-information

It’s one of those things we as Americans prize very, very highly. In fact, Americans prize freedom above almost all else. In the past, we have proven that we will even die to ensure freedom for those we love.

But we find ourselves living in a time when that precious gift – freedom – has been largely taken away from us by an invisible enemy no one had heard of until about a month ago. 

The novel Coronavirus has changed life as we know it. It has put our lives into a freeze-frame…a full stop…a worldwide time out…which has brought economies and societies to their knees.

We yearn for freedom and at the same time, we mourn its loss.

But this involuntary time out may be giving us the opportunity to think deeply about our freedoms, and the things that may prevent us from enjoying them. And chief among the obstacles to enjoying freedom is fear.

You cannot be free to be who you want to be or to do what you want to do when you are controlled by fear. Just think about the fears on nearly everyone’s mind today: fear of social disruptions, economic uncertainty, health risks, and even death – all caused by the Coronavirus.

By the time this virus is under control, it will have wrought a terrible price, in lives and livelihoods. 

Yet I am actually optimistic about our economic and societal future because I believe in America and the American experiment. We can all agree that it’s not perfect! But I believe America is the freest and most just society ever, and I believe it is the society most conducive to human flourishing that has ever existed. 

Given that, I’m optimistic about our ability to come together and overcome the societal and economic challenges presented to us by this Coronavirus.

But on a personal level, the most optimistic outcomes imaginable still leave us with certain fears that this pandemic has surfaced and made us deal with – society-wide – in a way we’ve not been forced to deal with in quite a while. 

The chief among them is the fear of death. 

Today is Easter Sunday. To Christians, it is known as Resurrection Sunday. For them, the celebration of Easter is a reminder of their own remedy for the fear of death. I share some of my personal thoughts on that topic in this podcast and in this video. 

But at the financial level, the fear of death (and our natural tendency to put off dealing with it) can wreak havoc in our planning efforts. Sometimes in a conversation about estate planning, a client will say, “If something should ever happen to me…”

If I’m feeling ornery that day, sometimes I’ll shoot back, “If?” They usually get the message.

When, not if, is the appropriate participle to use with reference to death. 

Despite our fears and reluctance to deal with the whole matter of death, a financial plan that does not deal with the reality and inevitability of death is brittle and often found lacking during times like these. It just won’t stand up to a crisis. 

Life can be cut short, leaving the economic potential of that individual unfulfilled. 

Life can be altered, by disease or disability. This creates a compound problem. The loss of income is the same as if the person had died, but that person continues to live and suffer the consequences of his disability or illness as well as the resulting economic losses.

Or life can be longer than expected, creating the need for resources to last longer than normal. And if the need for care that many elderly experience is added to the mix, more financial problems result. 

Fear can rob you of freedom. 

But facing your fears – and finding solutions that work – may be the door that leads you to the place you’d always hoped for…

Freedom.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information at http://www.ruston.argentadvisors.com/important-disclosure-information