When you advise people about their money you spend a lot of time managing people’s emotions. This was the tenth Presidential election year of my career and in each of them I have had to deal with partisan clients who were heavily invested in one candidate or another. We would have conversations leading up to Election Day that sounded like this:
Client: Doug, if my candidate loses I’m going to pull all of my money out of the market because the other guy will be a disaster!!
Me: That would be unwise. History tells us that the markets are quite resilient to changes in politics. Please don’t do that.
It happened when Bill Clinton ran for office. It happened when George Bush ran. It happened when Obama ran and each time that Trump has run. Each new President terrifies the losing candidate’s partisans. My job is always to talk my scared clients down from the ledge. With the benefits of hindsight, virtually none of the dire predictions of calamity ended up being true, so my moderating advice was vindicated. While it is certainly true that Presidents have tons of influence and do make a difference, it is never as much as we are led to believe during the heat and panic of an election.
Some will say that this time it’s different. This time we are more divided. The influence of social media has exasperated the divides. Trump is uniquely evil etc etc.
Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell.
Regardless of the outcome of the election I still operate under the two great mandates of my faith—to love God with all my heart mind and soul, and my neighbor as myself. That’s a lot on my plate. I find nothing in scripture in the form of dispensation from the loving my neighbor as myself part that allows me to exempt those who voted for Trump or Harris. Who is my neighbor? Pretty much everyone.
I’ll be busy trying my best to be faithful to that command.
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