Articles
Finding Optimism in Uncertainty: A Lesson from 2020
06.07.2024
On April 4th, 2020, around 9 PM, my husband and I were watching TV in our 700-square-foot downtown Nashville apartment. As you know, April 4th of 2020 means that the world was in the midst of uncertainty regarding COVID-19. The city was shut down. We went on walks almost nightly, passing through an eerie version of Nashville’s Broadway street – the bars were empty and dark, but country neon signs were still flashing, and one lone set of speakers played Paradise City on a loop, echoing through the silent streets.
| On this particular night, we heard something outside our apartment. Our balcony overlooked the enclosed courtyard, which was closed for social distancing, so we initially thought someone was blaring music from another balcony. When we looked outside, we saw a single lit candle on the top corner balcony and an individual standing, singing a heartfelt Por Ti Volare (also known as the opera song at the end of Step Brothers).
This was no ordinary ‘I’m bored, and my friend dared me to sing a song.’ This was a strong opera performance worthy of a grand theatre. We sat on our balcony as one song turned into another. Eventually, everyone cooped up inside their apartments and emerged onto their balconies. After a while, the singer would bow to the erupting applause and try to sit down, but the entire courtyard shouted ‘encore!’ repeatedly. The opera continued late into the night. Reflecting on 2020, this is one of my core memories. It was a poignant example of shared beauty amid uncertainty and fear. There was optimism. Music City still had music. We didn’t know how the story of COVID-19 would play out, but there was a sense of trust in human ingenuity to navigate this unprecedented time. As someone whose career is in personal finance, when I think about human ingenuity and uncertainty, I can’t help but think of the markets. David Booth, who helped create one of the world’s first index funds in the 1970s and is the founder and chairman of Dimensional Fund Advisors, said it best: This brings me to why I’m always optimistic about the power of markets, and why I always bet with them rather than against them: Markets represent people coming together. We can’t predict the nature or timing of a crisis, but we can bank on human ingenuity finding a path through it. Markets are forward-looking and reflect this optimism—an optimism that I believe is innate to humanity. And your optimism only increases when you begin to understand how markets work. I’ll re-write some of his words because they are so important: Markets represent people coming together. We can’t predict the nature or timing of a crisis, but we can bank on human ingenuity finding a path through it. My hope for investors is that they have a financial plan they can have confidence in throughout the unprecedented events to come. Because people will work to innovate and improve the value of the companies they work for. Human ingenuity will persist. And people will find a way to unite – even if it means opera on balconies. Hannah Whatley, CFP®, AIF® is an Advisor with Rather & Kittrell. |
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