Oscarlyn Elder (00:06):
The end of the year, a time to look back, to reflect on the past, set an intention, and develop a plan to act in the future. I'm Oscarlyn Elder, co-chief investment officer for Truist Wealth. Here on the I've Been Meaning To Do That podcast, we know how much there is to learn from what's already happened, but even more important is how we take what we've learned and shape our future action. So that's what we're going to do today. In this episode, we're going to listen back to some of our guests from 2024 and focus on how we can use their wisdom to guide our action in 2025.
One conversation that stands out to me is from episode 14, where Truist teammate Niles Greene reminded us of a crucial point. Volatility is the price of admission to the stock market, and this year, when the S&P 500 traded down 8.5% from July 15th through August 5th, his advice was timely. He shares how investing is not about avoiding volatility, but understanding it and staying the course when aligned with our financial planning.
Niles Greene (01:25):
In 1984, if you began with a dollar in the S&P 500, which is an index of the 500 largest companies in our country, and that stock index dropped in value between January and December, and in 1984 that happened to be around 13%. That meant, at some point, your dollar was worth 87 cents in the middle of the year. But if we look at where 1984 closed, it was actually up 6%. We can measure that every single year going forward. And what's fascinating to me is that 83% of the time before the year ends, the stock market ends up positive. So that 83% of the time yields a 12.8% average return over that 40-year period. So we can have entry year volatility, but over a long period of time is where we get the real bang for our dollar.
Oscarlyn Elder (02:23):
Listening to Niles' perspective, which emphasizes the approach of the Truist Wealth Investment Advisory Group, it really drives home the importance of staying focused on the long-term picture. In short, volatility can be unsettling, but history favors enduring the inevitable ups and downs, and trusting that over time disciplined investing is a key in moving towards fulfilling your financial goals.
While embracing a long-term mindset is an important factor in investing, we all need positive habits to help us navigate our daily lives. In episode 16 with Dr. Wendy Wood, author of Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick, we explored habit formation, and she shared that willpower isn't enough for most of us to change a habit, but changing your environment can be essential to changing habits and making the change stick. She's got a friend, for example, who only carries cash when she goes out shopping or out on the town. No credit cards. Is it a pain to count out bills and take some ribbing from her friends? Yeah, it is, and that's the point.
Dr. Wendy Wood (03:46):
One of the other ways of understanding what my friend is doing when she doesn't bring her credit cards with her and brings only cash is, she's adding friction onto the behavior of purchasing. So removing cues to buying things automatically and then adding friction so that it becomes a little bit more difficult are very useful ways of changing our habits.
Oscarlyn Elder (04:21):
One habit a lot of us struggle with is procrastination, and when it comes to our money, oftentimes that will have consequences. So that's something that you can act on in 2025. There was a good example in Episode 23 when I talked with Trista Shigley, Fiduciary Division director of Truist Trust and Estate Planning Group. Trista told us about the fundamental building blocks of estate planning, one of which is a revocable trust. That's a fairly common estate planning document that individuals use to transfer assets between generations with a measure of privacy as opposed to the public records involved in probate. But just because something is common, doesn't mean it's easy to understand or to follow through on. Trista says, often she finds with new clients that they've taken step one to set up the trust but never gotten around to step two, which is moving assets into the trust.
Trista Shigley (05:31):
So by nature, that one will likely fail because there's no assets funded in that trust. All those assets will flow through the probate process, which is what the client ultimately wanted to avoid. So it's really important to work with your wealth team and also your attorney to make sure the right assets get the titling or ownership of the revocable trust, if that's the technique that you wish to utilize.
Oscarlyn Elder (05:56):
So the message here is, terrific planning can go awry if it isn't followed up with the appropriate action. So my advice is keep a good list of what you need to do to make sure your estate plan has all the I's dotted and the T's crossed and keep following up until all your action steps are complete.
One thing we know for sure about the upcoming year is that it will offer unexpected opportunities and challenges. How can we be ready when the unexpected happens to us? We've got some great advice about that from a dynamic leader, Marietta Lee, the chief executive officer of The Lee Company, an engineering and manufacturing company. Marietta was a guest on Episode 22. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of shared values, succession planning, and family dynamics in a multigenerational family business. Though she grew up connected to the business, Marietta never planned to follow in her father's footsteps. She earned a law degree, worked in broadcast journalism, and never imagined returning to the family business. And then life through some unplanned twists and turns her way. She moved back to Connecticut and embraced a new role at The Lee Company. Over the next two decades, she worked in multiple roles, earned a master's degree in engineering management, and eventually was appointed CEO. Along the way, she faced personal and business challenges.
Marietta Lee (07:34):
And I said, "Okay, let's talk about what that might look like," because I'm not an engineer and I have no background in manufacturing. I don't even know what I could bring to the table. And he said, "Well, you've produced TV shows. You're very good organizationally, you know how to get things done, and we have some openings where we could use that skillset." I said, "Okay, let's talk about what that might look like."
Oscarlyn Elder (08:01):
One thing we know for sure about the upcoming year is that it will offer unexpected opportunities and challenges. My challenge to you is to take time for yourself to think about what actions you want and need to take to help you get closer to achieving your goals. And don't only think about it, write down the action steps you identify and enlist an ally. Share those steps with your financial advisor and use those action steps as the basis for forward progress. I'm going to be checking in on your progress during the year and sharing my own. We are in this together. Here's something else that I'm going to do in 2025: share more lessons and insights from my teammates here at Truist and other experts. What topics would you like to learn more about? Tell me your ideas via email at dothat@truist.com. I'm Oscarlyn Elder, and I want to thank you for listening to the I've Been Meaning To Do That podcast, and I look forward to talking with you soon.