When You See Markets Differently

I grew up in Boise, Idaho. I moved there when I was 10 days old. It was a really special place to grow up. You know, my mom and dad were just tremendous savers when I was a kid. Very dedicated, very diligent with their saving. And my dad, he ended up getting into business with this guy. They got into a real estate deal and unfortunately, the real estate deal just went bad and so it was a very difficult time period for my mom and dad. You know, there's a lot of stress. There's a lot of anxiety that resulted from that and it turned out to my dad, he ended up having to work about six years longer before he could retire. He was very fortunate in the sense that his orthodontic practice was going very well. But you think about an experience like my mom and dad, and it's very common out there. People go out there and they try different things and different ways of investing and often times, they're based on some sort of a forecast or prediction about the future and instead if they focus on those things that really matter around understanding where returns come from, staying diversified, and stayed disciplined to investment plan, they can have investment experience that they deserve to have. It's what we do here at Dimensional. We make a difference in people's lives and it's very rewarding to come to work everyday knowing that's what we're doing. And you think about my mom and dad today, my dad just celebrated his 80th birthday. We threw a big party for him and it's so neat to see where my mom and dad are today. They ended up having a great investment experience what they got with a financial advisor. When you see markets differently, you can live your life differently because the stress and the anxiety that comes with looking at the market day to day, that goes away because you know you have an investment plan in place. You know what gives you the highest odds of success over time and it frees you. You have to go focus on those things that really bring you joy and bring you happiness in life.