Compound Growth

Episode 05- Fear, Safety, and the Power of Perspective

• Compound Growth • Season 1 • Episode 5

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In this episode of Compound Growth, Colin and Wheeler tackle a fundamental yet often overlooked concept: safety. From financial markets to personal mindset, they explore how fear shapes decision-making—especially during periods of market volatility. Colin shares his personal reflections from therapy and how his own experiences with safety influence the conversations he has with clients. The duo gets candid about the emotional climate of 2025’s market pullback, and how it’s different from previous downturns like COVID.

They also discuss how fear often manifests in unexpected ways—whether through panic selling, political disillusionment, or the desire to control the uncontrollable. Through it all, they emphasize the importance of preparation over reaction, and the powerful role financial advisors can play in helping people feel secure. From practical travel hacks to the legacy of generational wealth, this episode reminds listeners that mindset and perspective are just as important as any investment strategy.

Finally, Colin and Wheeler share personal anecdotes—spilled smoothies, frugal travel tips, and nostalgic reflections on punk rock—to highlight how even the smallest daily experiences can compound into larger insights. If you're navigating a challenging market, or just trying to stay grounded in a chaotic world, this conversation offers a thoughtful, steadying voice.

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Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production Assistance: Tori Rothwell
Editing and Post-Production: Steven Sims

I have a travel hack. Okay. Okay. All right. So my travel hack is this. We're going on vacation soon, and when we're on vacation, we have multiple flights on vacation. Yep. So we fly into Athens and then we go from Athens to Santorini, which is a flight. But in between as well, we go from Portland, Maine to JFK. Right. So Portland, Maine to JFK- Mm-hmm. JFK to Athens- Mm-hmm. Athens to Santorini. Wow. Then we have to fly back. How long is that whole excursion? So from, well, J- from Portland to JFK is, like, an hour and 15. But then from JFK to Athens I think is, like, 10 and a half hours, 11 hours. Mm-hmm. So it's a bit of a hike. Um, but then to go from Athens to Santorini is, like, 30 minutes. Okay. Versus the ferry can be up to 8 hours. Got it. So it's a long ferry. Yeah. But- Okay. But my point with this was we are only doing carry-ons. Kaylee packed yesterday. Okay. And she actually has leftover room in her bag, which is amazing, because we did travel cubes. Basically what it is, is you put everything into a travel cube, and it's, like, this little mesh bag. But then you zip it up and it pushes all the air out. S- So it automatically. You don't have to use a vacuum cleaner or- No, no, no. Okay. So it's just a zipper that zips it up. Okay. But what's amazing about this is I found out 2 things, which is, 1, we can get a surprising amount of stuff in a big carry-on. However, the amount of money we're saving by both of us not checking a bag, because we're flying Delta from- Oh. Portland to JFK. Then we're flying American direct- S- so different airlines. from there. So different airlines. And then it's Aegean in Greece. Okay. So it's basically $50 per flight to check a bag. Mm. So that's 6 flights, so that's $300 per person times 2. Wow. So that's $600 of checked bags, if we were to check a bag. If w- we do carry-on, the cost of dry cleaning and laundry service at the hotel is $40. And that saves- Ah. us $550. Wow. It is un- Like, I'm sitting here, I'm looking at this, and I'm like, "Why didn't I do this before?" And it helps that you're going to, like, a warm weather climate and, like, you know what to expect. Right. I the weather's gonna be all over the place. Yeah, exactly. You don't layers and Yeah. Right. Okay. That's my, that's my travel hack. Okay. Good travel hack. Thank you. Yes. Good travel hack. I'm excited about it. And then I was talking with my dad about this, and my dad's just like, "Yeah, I only do carry-on. And what I do is I just buy a package of socks and a pair of underwear and I just throw it out- before I leave."'Cause he was just like, "I could pay $50 for a bag to fly- Yeah. or I could just buy a package of socks over there for $7." I have thoughts on that, but I'm gonna let- Yeah. that be. I'm just- I'm, I'm not doing that. That's- you know, probably just a him thing. But, uh- Your dad, who's, he's frugal. He's a frugal man. Very. Right? Yes. But he does not care about one-time use of underwear? He's like the Tom Brady of frugal- Of underwear. travelers. Yes, exactly. Welcome to the Compound Growth podcast with Collin and Wheeler, where we talk all things growth. From financial growth to career growth, personal development to societal progress, we explore how each layer builds on the next, compounding over time to shape who we become. Each week, we break down complex ideas and emerging trends into clear, actionable insights. Because growth isn't just about numbers, it's about understanding the world and our place in it. The information in this material is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. Investment advice offered through Integrated Partners doing business as Kofi Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor. Integrated Partners does not provide legal, tax, mortgage advice or services. Please consult your legal tax advisor regarding your specific situation. Past performance is no guarantee f- of future results. All investing involves risk, including loss of principle. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. The economic forecasts set forth in this material may not develop as predicted, and there can be no guarantee that the strategies promoted will be successful. Welcome back to Compound Growth with Collin- Yes. and today we're gonna be talking about a number of topics, one of those being safety. Yes. I'd already been thinking about, like, the, just the concept of fear and safety in my own life. Just kind of like while I'm going through, like, I'm going through some therapy and exploring- Yeah. my childhood, et cetera, and I'm finding these times where I was not feeling safe- Mm-hmm. in my life, right? And then you think about that as it relates to the work that we do- Mm-hmm. when it comes to wealth management, financial planning, working with clients, right? And you have a market like we've had this year in- Sure. 2025, where there's a decline, which is, you know, normal, right? Yeah. You get these declines. It's fairly minor decline. I think we're down 2% right now year to date. Right. But it's still a decline. Still a decline, and it was worse, right? And it was worse. It's come back up a little bit. to correction territory, down over 10%, right? Yeah. But there was this compound energy of the market's going down and we're scared. Right. And when I was taking a lot of phone calls from people, um, you know, the panic, the concern was different than, different than COVID. Totally. Uh, different than 2022, which that was a pretty long, like, a long duration bear market. Not by, like, historic norms, but longer than what we've seen over the last decade. Yeah. Right? But this, th- there was, it was a lot of just, like, emotional response as it related to the stock market. Right. And it reminded me of just, like, this basic human need to feel safe, to feel- Mm-hmm. secure, right? Yeah. And you and I can talk about compound growth in investments, right? In the concept that, you know, over time, being in the stock market is generally the best way to compound growth. Yeah. You could argue that over time being in Bitcoin was the best way to, to compound growth. True, yeah. There's always outliers. Uh, yeah. You could look at individual stocks though, too. NVIDIA, right. Yeah. NVIDIA, and be like, "Well, that was the best way to do it," but- Right, right. anyway, yeah. But it also comes with a certain amount of tolerance, right, a certain amount of acceptance that there's going to be a lot of volatility. There's going- Totally. to be times when the market can, like, really shake you. Mm-hmm. Really just grab you and shake you, right? Yeah. And I have a very high tolerance for that, and you might have a very high tolerance for that. Yeah. Um, but there are other people who don't have that tolerance, right? No. And we have to kinda factor that into the work that we do with them. And sometimes, I know I've made the mistake of letting my tolerance dictate theirs, right? Fair. Yeah, that's a really good point. Um, I will say that this last drawdown we received, maybe not quite. I mean, COVID was pretty crazy as- Mm-hmm. I think back on it. But this was certainly a, a time that, in my opinion, was comparable from a phone call perspective and a level of fear- Yeah. with people. Yeah. And was it warranted? I don't know. Um, COVID, I think, was probably pretty warranted, that was scary for a little while. Yeah. That was pretty- Yeah. crazy, so was 2008. Um, but you're 100% right, that I think everybody has their own personal bias and those personal biases can influence people's decisions. And I look at, you know, not to speak ill will of certain insurance contracts or annuities and certain like that- Mm-hmm. but a lot of people sell based off of fear. Yes. And a lot of people get suckered into some products that may not be suitable for them because people play into their fears. Mm-hmm. In the same way that if someone has some fear, I think there's a lot of media outlets and a lot of things that are pushed to them to compound on their fears. Yeah. And we talk about mindset, if you're already going down a certain mindset, I think it's easier to go further into it than it is to change course. Yeah, yeah. To lean into what you're worried about, right? Right, yeah. It's almost validating. It is. It's, right, like, "Oh, I had, I had a reason-" "I'm right."" to be concerned." Yeah, exactly. Right, yeah. Like, "Of course this is happening because X." Yeah. Right? I appreciate when people can see both things, because you and I have talked about this a lot. Yeah. Historically, there's always good and bad. Right. Right? Yeah. You know, I've been thinking a lot about the '60s lately. I was watching this Questlove documentary. There was, um, a concert series in Harlem in the, I think, the same year as Woodstock, but nobody was really paying attention to it 'cause- of course not, yeah. it was the Black concert series. Right. Um, but the, the pain and anguish of the '60s was, like, it was severe. It was very palpable. Yeah. There was a lack of trust in the government. Right. There was Vietnam, right? Yeah. There was, you know, an economic crisis, like, it's Then that went into the '70s. So there, there were, there've always been these things that people have a reason to be anxious or fight or whatever. Yeah. And I think it can be frustrating for people that those things still exist, but they're always going to be here. Yeah. But is your fear of the stock market going down the fear of losing money? Is it the fear of being poor? Right. Or is it the fear of not being able to take care of your family? Is it the fear of not being able to travel and enjoy life? Like, what is the underlying fear that you're trying to get past with that? Now, I don't think a lot of people's fears are necessarily tied to the stock market, but when you see the stock market go down, people are like, "Oh, well, of course it went down." Yeah. You know, so it's just like a derivative of that. Yeah. But I think when we're sitting here in America, something that kinda blows my mind is, people are talking about how bad the world is. I don't think anyone globally Like, if you go to China, I don't think they're paying attention to our politics. Australia probably doesn't pay attention our China is definitely unaware of our politics. They're China, yeah, I, I think, I think the terrorists in general. But I guess my point is, is like our problems aren't their problems. Sure. And I think when we zoom out, like, like we're flying to Greece here soon. Like, Santorini was decimated by earthquakes and a lot of people left their homes and probably- Mm-hmm. aren't coming back. Mm. And it's the same thing with a bunch of other international stuff. Um, okay, perfect example, coffee this morning. Mm-hmm. So my favorite coffee shop increasing their coffee prices. Ah. I figured it was tariffs. So I asked the owner, I was just like, "Hey, coffee prices are going up," I'm just like, "What's the deal?" He was just like, "Oh, you haven't heard what's going on in Vietnam right now?" And I'm like, "No." And he was just like, "There's crazy disease and famine going on over there and there's a huge drought and they have no water to grow their crops." Wow. And I'm like- And they source their beans from Vietnam? So Vietnam's a huge coffee place. So is Colombia, but the same thing's going on at Colombia. Oh, okay. Apparently there's a huge drought there too. Ah. But I mean, we talk about all of these things and policy and blah, blah, blah, and economies, but like at the end of the day, you're 100% correct when you look at the '60s, like they had some real fricking problems. Mm-hmm. And I'm not saying that we don't have real problems now, because we do. Yeah. But the world has historically gotten better. Yeah. You know, even if, I'll say, you don't agree with certain things, you know, we don't have to worry about the draft. Not right now. Not right now. Like, we don't have to worry about the draft. And odds are, if it ever came to that point, they'd probably just build more drones because it's cheaper to build a drone- Sure. than draft a human being. Yeah. So we don't have that to worry about. We don't have famine and we don't have these disease problems and all this other stuff. So even when things are crappy, they're still pretty good. Yeah. And I think it's, it's definitely the safety and security totally matters, but, um, perspective to me is always helpful to kind of zoom out and be like, well, I look at, like my dad's first job was working at the Coca-Cola bottling plant. Okay. And they were taking salt tablets 'cause it was 110 degrees and you would ha- pass out. Yeah. And that was like, you know, you'd have 12 hour shifts at 25 cents an hour. Yeah. And that was like, that was like considered a great job. You know, like when we talk about a long day at work, it's not, you know, like you look at the s- it used to be a seven day work week, then the whole thing with the church kind of changed it for Sundays. But then like technology scaled up, which brought us down to five, and now we're kind of at 4ish for a lot of people. Mm-hmm. So I, I don't know, like I- I appreciate that, you know, while I don't agree with everything that's going on right now, um, we're quite fortunate. We are. And I think that progress is continuous, right? Totally. But it's not continuous It doesn't just exist in a vacuum. Like, there are people who need to make progress, right? Absolutely. And it also is in the eye of the beholder. Right. It's also, yeah, it's perspective. Yeah. You know, there was, there was one day my daughter was 3 years old and we took her to the Seacoast Science Center, I think that's what it is. Yeah, I love that place. Yeah. Right? That's the one on the beach there, right? Yeah, right over in Rye. She's 3, she's at like a nap time routine, you know, it's like, you know, she runs out of energy pretty quickly, right? So we explore, we get her back into the car and she looks at us and she says, "Oh, it's been a long day."

It's 11:

00 AM. And you know, it's- it's one of these stories that we go back to 'cause it was just a cute kid story, right? Yeah, of course. Um, but I always think about that and say, you know, first of all, it was like her first, obviously she's echoing parenting something that we've She didn't come up with this concept of "It's been a long day." Right. Like, we've said this or something. Yeah. She picked it up from somewhere. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And there are days that can feel like they're a real drag, and other days that are more exciting. But- and I think that applies to everything that we do. You brought up the point last time we- we recorded about the diamonds, right? And the guy mining that diamond. Sure, yeah. It's- it's unimaginable for me to I can't put myself in, in that person's shoes. No. You could never relate to that. Right. Right. And but at the same time, I can validate how people feel about what they're disappointed with right now. Right. And I don't know if there's ever a place There's- there's no nirvana, there's no like, just we are all content. Right. And like human beings don't exist in that reality. Right. Right? You know, I think a great saying that applies here is, "If you seek it, you shall find." Okay. So, you know, I guess this morning was a, a bit of a nuanced morning where I woke up and, you know, made my routine, did my bed, but then it just, like s- a little, a lot of small annoyances happened. So I'm making my smoothie and then I go to drink it and the top pops off and it spills all over the front of me. And I like have to go and change my clothes. I'm like, "Crap." Yeah. And then I go to take Finnegan out, he goes and, you know, goes to the bathroom in someone's yard, and then I go to look for a poop bag and the thing's empty. Mm-hmm. So I like have to walk all the way back to the house, 'cause naturally the neighbor's sitting on the porch. I have to go get a poop bag, walk all the way back over to the guy's house- Sorry. pick up the poop. Sorry about that. right back. You know, come do that. And then, um, the same thing happened, you know, just in multiple ways along the, along the day. And- and that is annoying, but I guess now I'm in this kind of mentality where I'm like, "Oh crap, that was so freaking annoying." And now I notice all of these annoying things- Right. that keep happening. Versus if I woke up and if I'm like, "Today is gonna be a great day," you know, I'm seeking positivity. Mm-hmm. So in theory I'll notice more positive things, even if annoying things happened, but you would pay attention to the positive things. Sure. SoI'm not dismissing anybody that feels unsecure or unsafe or anything. In fact, I think you're validated in a lot of ways. Um, but, you know, with Kaylee and I, we try to have, like, a 90-second complaint rule- Mm-hmm. where if she comes home, she's really upset, she has, like, 90 seconds where she just, like, opens up about her day and how she's so annoyed, and this patient was annoying and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then it's just like, "Well, what happened that's good today?" Mm-hmm. Then you try to switch it because that's, like, what we found to be effective because you can certainly go down rabbit holes of negativity and, uh, looking at things about being really glass half empty. Yeah, yeah. And it's like if you seek that sort of news, just like what we talked about earlier, it's like if you're really upset about something, odds are you're gonna continue to get pushed something that's gonna make you more and more upset and to go down that rabbit hole. Yeah, that's a really scary part about the time that we're living in right now. It's so easy to push people in that direction. Totally. And negativity compounds, just like positivity compounds. Anything else, yeah. You look at social media and all this stuff, it's like the moment I google one thing where I'm like, I'm upset about something and then I google it, the amount of TikToks and Instagrams and all the stuff I get that just, like, is gonna make me more upset- Mm-hmm. about that thing, like And then I realize, like, 45 minutes later, I'm in a terrible mood, and I'm like, "What just, what just happened?" Yeah. Well, that's confirmation bias- Right. and it can go in both directions. 100%. So I think what I like the 90-second rule in theory, and Tony Robbins brought this up actually. Yeah. Um, but what I've become aware of is that we all process things at different speeds, right? Very much so. Um, and not everything's equal. Like, you know, not, you know, spilling your smoothie on your shirt is not the same as, like, having to replace your windshield or even worse- Something bad happens with your health or something. breaking your yeah. There's different levels of bad. Right, exactly. Um, I woke up today, I had, I have like a little nasal thing going on here and I'm like, "Is it a cold or is it allergies?" And you just You don't know, right? Right. And I'm 10 I tend to be the person, like, there's that old concept, like when you hear hoof prints, think horse not zee-bra or ze-bra as the rest of the world says. Um, but it's the concept that And this is like a, a doctor's thing. Like, it's go to the first logical cause. Don't assume- Oh, I see. Okay. that if you hear hoof prints, it's probably a horse- Yeah.'cause there's no zebras here. It's very unlikely. Right. Unless you in a zoo, right? Yeah. Like, so it's probably the horse. And in which case, like yesterday, like we'd, we've had a ton of rain. Yesterday's the first day where it's not really raining. It's a high pollen day- Yeah. and coincidentally, which I don't believe in coincidences, but all of a sudden I feel ill, right? Yeah. Probably allergies, right? Definitely, yeah.

So I wake up this morning, Jess encourages me to sleep in, so I sleep in until the great hour of 7:

30. Nice. And, uh, I'm, you know, I wake up and I feel like crap. And so I go downstairs and I'm like, "I could lean in, I could have a cup of coffee." Right. You know, which way do I go? Do I go, "I'm sick," or I'm like, "No, let's try to figure this out"? So I pulled out ChatGPT- Yeah. and I'm like, "Help me figure this out." Yeah. Do I have allergies? Is it a cold? We go through all the symptoms, the timing of things. It's taking an active role in trying to figure this out instead of just, like, staying in bed. And maybe at the end of the day I have a cold and I, I hope I don't. Right. I don't feel like I do. I wouldn't come here if I was You know, if I was, if I was leaning towards I have a cold- It's definitely allergies. You guys all know I would be like- Yeah. not coming to the office." Yeah. Um, but you, you can choose to take a, like, a proactive approach to things. And I think that when it comes to, like that 90, 90-second clock And I'm coming back to it, I promise. Um, you know, when, when we're uns- when we're unsettled or upset about something, or there's a lot of anxiety or anger or fear or whatever, we're, we're thrown off, right? Right. Our equilibrium is not right. Yeah. Right? And we have to get to the point where we are back into the right wavelength. Yeah. And sometimes, like, complaining for 90 seconds can do that. Yeah. It never works for me. I never feel better complaining. Yeah. Right? Sometimes I get you feel that way," or- Right. you know. But the act of complaining doesn't do it for me. No. Right? I need to do breath work or pause or- Yeah. move my body and go for a run or whatever. Or most of the time, I just filter it out and it goes away, right? Like, my process is I don't stay angry very long. No. There are other people in my life who do. Yep. And I need to accept that they have a different process- Yeah. and different tolerance and a different timeline than I do. What I will say is the 90-second rule works much better for me. Than for Kaylee? Than for Kaylee. Um, while we try to abide by it, it, it often turns into longer than 90 seconds, which is totally fine because I totally agree with you. Some people, um, I'll say, need to cope with things differently and you doing breath work, I think, is like a great thing if that makes you feel better. For me- Right. like, 90 seconds of complaining about something, being like, "This sucks" and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and all this, then I can just be like, "I'm good." Time to move on."Yeah, I'm good." Okay."I'm Time to move on." Yeah. But for her, you know, I think, um, you know, she needs to sit in it a little bit longer and digest. But I agree with you that there has to be some sort of way to move on from that and I think it's great, like the podcast last night. Because I think- Mm-hmm. lot of people will resonate with the fact that coming together as a group will help them get over a situation because there's a ton of validation in that. Yeah.'Cause you're with a bunch of people that feel a similar way, you're like, "I'm not alone." And I think- 100%. it sucks to feel alone. I think it was the it was the shared humanitarian experience like, you know, um, I think that it was so, I think, uplifting for people. And, you know, I come from like a punk rock background too, so like- Right. sometimes you just need to yell and shout and scream and bounce around and bump into people. Yeah. And that like helps, right? Yeah. You know, so there's different ways to kind of like find that communal gathering benefit of like shared experience. Yeah. Um, and I like both ways. Yeah. You know, I, I'm not so much a mosh pit guy anymore, but, uh At 1 point you were though. Yeah, at 1 point, I understood. Yeah. Um, but I think going back to the conversations we have with our clients- Yeah. you know, when our clients call in, if they're upset about something, whether it's politics or the environment or their market performance, not their market, the market performance or their portfolio performance or whatever it might be, I have to remind myself to let them process at their own pace and their own speed and, and to validate what they are feeling. Um, and then at the end of the day, I feel like our role is to validate and then tone shift. It's almost like to remind them that if we've been working with them for a long time, there are things that we put in place to alleviate some of the anxiety and the fear and the concern to provide that safety. And anytime we go through a, a market environment like we've gone through this year, it feels like an opportunity for us to reassess, you know, did you not feel I probably wouldn't say safe because I don't think that's gonna like be the word that would most appeal to them in that moment, but how unsettled were you, right? Yeah. What's kind of interesting is like, you know what the right answer to do when the market goes down is. Yeah, of course. You And they do too honestly. People know the right answer, you know. Yeah. I- I It's there's no data to suggest that selling at the market low is a good idea. You know, like that's- No. That's never worked out. Yeah. Um, perhaps there's a piece of information out there that I'm missing. Uh, I have yet to see it though. Yeah. You know, when selling when the market is bad is a good idea. Well, there are the people who feel like selling when the market is low is good because it's gonna go lower. Exactly. Right? So and, and I understand that mentality. Um, and to alleviate on what you're talking about, I think the best thing that you can do is just meet people where they're at. Mm-hmm. Understand that even if they don't agree with you politically- Mm-hmm. even if they, you know, think something completely different about the world that you do, doesn't make them a bad person. But, you know, you have to understand the fact that people's mentalities and focuses and fear of having certain things happen to them will make them make decisions that may not be the best for them and if you're a good steward of someone's wealth, let's say- Mm-hmm. and if you're trying to help protect them from themselves, I think that's what this is really all about. Yeah. Yeah, it really does come down to, I mean, this is, this is where we earn our fees in a lot of ways. Right. It's like it's just making sure that we help people avoid some of the mistakes that will otherwise sink their ship. Right. And occasionally, there's a leak in the ship, sure. Totally. Right? Yeah. Um, and we can patch that and strengthen the hull and, you know, but I feel like being able to talk people off a cliff- Yeah. is something that is really important and also emotionally draining for me. I know it Absolutely. So. Yeah, the average market volatility is 14.1% in a year. This is very, very normal but every t- single time is different though, you know? Well, it's hard to be pragmatic in the face of unbridled concern, right? Totally. Yeah. And it's, it's Again, I feel like- the right dosage, the righ- the right prescription is to validate the way people are feeling and then remind them why they're gonna be okay. Right. Right? And sometimes there are other, there are bigger concerns at play that have nothing really to do with the stock market. Not at all. Right? Yeah. Um, but, you know, I think it's the pre-work. It's, it's always better to prepare than repair. Mm-hmm. Right? Um, so the amount of calls that we get or these, you know, w- 'cause we're always meeting with clients either way, right? Whether they're calling in 'cause they're concerned or it's just, like, their scheduled meeting. Yeah. You know, the, the amount of concern shared, there's a correlation with the amount of preparation that's been done. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Um, and frequently, there's not a lot of preparation that's been done. When you're Let, let's say for the, for the people who are not working with our team. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and if they're optimistic, it's almost like they have a, they have a skewed prism through which to look at their current advisor, their current portfolio, right? Mm-hmm. If they kinda feel like stocks are gonna go up eventually so I'm gonna buy, and they know they have that baseline assumption, they don't have that baseline fear, they're probably in a pretty good position. Yeah. If there are people who are concerned, then you have to wonder what's being done to address those concerns. Right. Right? Um, and, you know, frequently this will come down to demographics. This is age, right, where you are in your life, in your career, et cetera. And the different markets impact different people. The market going down so drastically like it did in 2025 or during COVID could impact a retiree differently- Yeah. than somebody who's actively accumulating their portfolio. Right. But a recession will impact that accumulator differently- Mm-hmm. than the retiree. Yeah. Right? 100%. It's very interesting how people's mindset will change their entire investment focus. Yeah, true. totally, totally different. Yeah. And, uh, you know, at the end of the day, it's, like, will make a big impact, how you think about things and whether or not you're right or wrong, and if we had a crystal ball, we probably wouldn't be sitting here. I really want to invest in a crystal ball. I don't know why we haven't bought one of yet. You should buy one of those. Yeah. Yeah. One thing that I, that I often think about is, uh, there's nothing to fear but fear itself. Mm-hmm. And fear isn't necessarily a useful emotion- Mm-hmm. if you don't plan on addressing the fear. Yeah. You know, like, what are you actually fearful of? It goes back to the last podcast, ask why. Mm-hmm. You know, why are you fearful? What exactly is it that you're fearing? Mm-hmm. And then what can you do to solve for that fear? Like, is it really that your money's gonna be going down and you just cannot stand the fact that you could lose some of this money that you worked so hard for? Yeah. Well, then maybe you shouldn't be in stocks in general, but- Yep. now's not the time to sell, and we should readdress this later on. Is it so much the fact that maybe, like, you wanted to travel with your spouse so badly that when you retired, like, that's what you're fearful of losing the ability? Mm-hmm. Well, there are ways to solve for that too, and you don't have to worry about that anymore. But what exactly is the thing that you're fearing? Or are you just upset? Yeah, that's the thing is, like, are you just upset, right? Right. Which, as upset as it dismisses, like, it's, it's It's a dismissive term. Right, yeah. Yeah. But, like, there's the idea, um, I can't remember where I heard this story. But, um, there's the story of the stockbroker who is on the floor of the exchange as the Cuban missiles are launched, right? Like, that's- Allegedly. Allegedly, right? Okay, got it. So the news is m- the missiles are gonna be launched. Yeah. Right? And when the news hits, the young trader says to the old trader, "We gotta sell." And the old trader says, "We gotta buy, 'cause if this isn't true, we're gonna be fine." We're right."And if it is true, we're all dead." Right. So, like, so just buy. And I think about that with the stock market in general. It's, you know, the country that we live in is intertwined with the success of the stock market. Mm-hmm. Right? And if you believe in the future and the growth of the US, which arguably some people don't right now, but if you, if you exist in this country and you exist in this economy, you have to buy in the stock, you have to buy the stock market, you have to invest in the future of the stock market, right? Right. So every, every downturn is a buying opportunity eventually. Like, over time at some point, even if it goes further down, it's gonna go back up. Right. And if it doesn't, we're all screwed. The people who are worried about the dollar not being like the reserve currency anymore, if that happens, we're screwed. Yeah. Right? If the stock market goes down because of a nuclear explosion, we're screwed. Yeah. If the Joker sets the stock market to, like, 0 or something, we're screwed. Right? But, like, these are all, like, end of days scenarios. Yes. And the majority of scenarios, 99.999- Yeah. are not end of days, so you have to act as if there is a tomorrow and the market will go up eventually. Th- there's a very resilient mindset and in times of sorrow, people come together, like look at 9/11. Mm-hmm. You know, I'll say the country was probably pretty banded together after that, you know- Mm. because that was a really bad disaster. Mm-hmm. And while that was like the worst thing ever, it did bring people together in a lot of ways and I'll say united people. But it's, it's interesting to hear how things unfold. Yeah. No, it's a good point, and I think it's, you know, the risk is Volatility isn't the risk, right? Timing is the risk. Totally. And if you remove timing from the picture, then you can just withstand the volatility and then believe in the future. What's kind of funny is if We, we talked about this, uh, before, uh, and, uh, have you seen Crazy Rich Asians? I have, yes. Okay. Yeah. Great movie. Yeah. Um, but they always talk about this in the movie, about building things that last. Mm. Mm-hmm. And some of our most successful clients still own stock positions that they owned in 1996- Right. to 1992, like whatever it is. If you don't ever plan on selling and if you only ever plan on buying- Mm-hmm. is there really ever an issue with volatility? Well, that's the Munger, Buffett approach. Exactly. Right? Did you see, um So Buffett announces his retirement, right? Yeah. And then you get to see all of his, like, lifetime returns. Yeah. Did you see his percentage of return? I did not. It's 5.5 million percent. If, I wonder what that is annualized. I don't know. It's very high. Yeah. And it's Look, it A lot of it What's funny about And, and he would say this and Munger would say this, the, the majority of it comes in the back half because these investments compound, um, and, like, e- the, the percentages, the impact on the return becomes higher. Right. Right? Because you have a larger Like, the dollars, the figures move more- Right. with a smaller percentage of Um, but his You know, I think he invested in many different markets and there were times where it was a great opportunity to, like, you know, buy a, a company for a dollar and, you know, have a $1.20 worth of value just in like the assets on the book. So like- Right. there was It was a different time when a lot of this real wealth was generated. But I saw that number and I've seen a couple variations of it, so I'm just picking the one that's the average, but that's still a ridiculous average. Yeah, I mean, when we were talking, um, a very successful, uh, Chinese woman that we know quite well- Mm-hmm. who has a very successful business and, you know, brought up the fact, you know, "Wow, this is, you know, a great business. You know, you could sell this and be uber, uber wealthy." And the response was, "If I have a successful business, why would I ever sell it?" Yeah. You know what was interesting? Yeah. Last night, um, they mentioned, Glennon, uh, and Abbey, that they don't believe in generational wealth. Mm-hmm. Right? So the enti- all the tickets sold went to charity, all the merch sold, all the dollars for that went to charity. Yeah. Right? Um, their daughter was touring with them and singing some songs before and after the show and her merch went to her, right? Mm-hmm. Because she's, you know, a struggling 20 something year old, right? Yeah. And trying to build her, build her wealth, build her life, whatever. Um, but when they said they don't believe in generational wealth, it struck me that I think there's a concept of generational wealth that they don't believe in, right? And their perception of it, their prism, they, they see a lack of value there. They feel like probably everything should go to charity or they might have fears or concerns about what the wealth would do for their daughter or to their daughter. Mm. Mm-hmm. Right? Um, and they have multiple children. But, um, it just, it makes me think when somebody says a statement like that, what is it they don't believe in? Is it the lasting value of something you build, right? Or is it just, you know, commerce? Right? Is it the, you know, is it just the- Is it that wealthy people are just bad? Right, yeah. Like, what is it exactly? And then they didn't You know, the point of last night was not for me to ask that question. No, you don't wanna unpack that at that event. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah. But I was curious and it made me think about that, and I think about the concept of building something with lasting value as, you know, something that's admirable and something to strive for. Yeah. Right? Um, and I don't think it's You know, I don't think our point of view is that you should build something for a quick buck, right? No. Um, and I think there are a lot of people that are just looking to get rich.Right. Yeah, I mean, what I find fascinating about this is if we go back to when we were in Miami for a conference, um, on stage, there was a gentleman who had the oldest family office. Mm-hmm. Do you remember this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the oldest family office that was ever formed and they were steel tycoons- Mm-hmm. in the 1800s, formed a family office, refresh my memory. Was it '30s, '40s? Yes. Yeah, the '30s was when they formed the office, yeah.'30s or '40s, and it was a patriarchy family, um, and they had originally 20 or 30 members. Now they're up to over 500 members with this one family office. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And I can't remember the number of 1000000000, but it was a significant amount of 1000000000. I wanna say maybe, you know, uh, well, anyway, maybe, like, 5 to 7000000000. I can't remember the exact amount, but it was significant. And they have this huge organization and it's a company. Mm-hmm. You know, like, this family office is legitimately a company and their entire division's developed for philanthropy. And stewardship. And stewardship. Yeah. And it's educating the people on what they can do right with the money. Everybody gets a piece of the money. The family's taken care of, its education, it's all this and all that, and I guess, just assuming something's bad- Yeah. is, in my mind, an incorrect way of thinking. Mm-hmm. Because, certainly, a child could inherit a ton of money, blow it all on dumb stuff, and then wind up broke. I mean, you look at the Rockefeller families, none of them are millionaires anymore. They blew the entire family fortune and they now have nothing to show for it. Mm-hmm. Even all the mansions they built in New York City are all torn down. Mm-hmm. But you look at something like that where it's, like, now you have a lasting legacy, and that provides a lot of good for the world. And certainly, a lot of things can go to charities, but, um, you know, I've donated to a bunch of charities that have gone bankrupt and are no longer here anymore. Or just a poor use of funds. Or, or- Yeah. a poor use of funds and you go- Yeah. and you unpack the books, and you're disappointed with where your money went. Yeah. And that's not always the case. No. Sometimes, you know, it works out really great and that's fantastic. Um, but with that being said, if you have, I'll say, a system to spread this money out amongst educated people that can make proper decisions for philanthropy and things like that, like, talk about a fantastic legacy of giving. Yeah. Like, now you've just taken your money and compounded it to give in perpetuity. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. I think creating legacy, right? Yeah. Helping the, the, the next generation, you know, steward, right, like, to, to create that ongoing- Yeah. compound value of that is a massive opportunity. Yeah. And we don't have time to dig into it all today. No. Um, but when I hear something like I heard last night, I really wanna just, like, take time to sit with them and say, "Where's your fear coming from?" To your point. Right. Um, "What are your goals and concerns?" Yeah. And, "Are you looking at this through a limited, you know, prism?" Scope. Right, yeah. Yeah. Is it, is, "Are you thinking about this as abundance or scarcity?" And I think when I hear that type of comment, they're thinking scarcity. Totally. You know? Yeah. It's that people don't have enough and that the people that have this money aren't willing to give. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think it's- Which these people are obviously very willing to give, right? Mm-hmm, yeah. And they feel great about the giving. You know, they, they don't want to raise their kids the wrong way, which is a real fear. Totally get it, yeah. Um, but I think that they're very capable of doing hard things, as their podcast says. Yeah. And I think one of those hard things is helping their children understand how to manage wealth and how to create greatness from their wealth- Yeah. and give back to the world. I mean, I just was in a conversation yesterday or the day before with a client, um, son of a extremely wealthy family, um, and, you know, he's maybe in his 30s or something like that, and has inherited a huge level of wealth, and only maybe spends 40, 50K. He's a social worker, helps people with mental health, and now he's taking his money and, um, paying for kids' college tuition out of pocket. That's amazing, yeah. Like, is he bad because he inherited a lot of money? No. You know? No. Like I think purpose is, is You can inherit purpose just like you can inherit wealth, right? Totally, yeah. We recorded this episode a month ago, but it feels like way longer than that. I think this episode is an accurate reflection of how we were feeling at the time and how current events were influencing our thinking and our conversations. I think we can all relate to feeling overwhelmed, uncertained, or even scared at times. In these moments, our thinking can get cloudy. It can feel like there's a fog preventing us from seeing too far in the future, or maybe our fears take hold and we imagine a future that we don't want. In these times, when we feel powerless or like we don't know what to do, we look to take whatever action we can. And all too often, that action is taking in our investment portfolios. This is where having an advisor really makes a difference. I often feel like we're making the biggest impact when we're providing a steady presence in this one important area of your life. We can't see the future, we don't know what happens next, but we have core beliefs, historic knowledge, anticipatory strategies we can lean on. We hope for the best, plan for the worst, and position you to find success in whatever the market or the world throws at you. This is why we're here, talking you through, helping you clarify your thinking, understand what's happening, why it's happening, and what, if anything, you should do about it. Communication is the name of the game. That's why you're listening to these words right now. And guess what? We always have so much more to say, and you can get all of our thoughts, reminders, opinions, and ideas on a regular basis by following us on LinkedIn or YouTube, at Compound Growth Pod on Insta and TikTok, or wherever you're listening to this right now. We'll be back next week. Thanks again for listening. Compound Growth with Wheeler and Collin sponsored by Kofi Advisors. Reach out today. Yay!