A Father's Perspective:
Seasons of Life  & importance of Staying Consistent

I heard a saying recently that hit home: "Life moves in multiple seasons of ups and downs."

As a father of three young kids, I feel this deeply. There are seasons where just getting an uninterrupted six hours of sleep feels like a massive win. The days are a blur, the challenges are constant, and you're just focused on getting through.

Then, there are other seasons. The kids are in a great routine, you're hitting your stride at work, and life feels like it’s non-stop "up." It’s easy to feel invincible.

The most important lesson I’ve learned? Focus on consistency.

When things go bad—when you're in a tough season—don't play the victim. Don't let the short-term struggle define your long-term identity. When things are good, don't play God. Don't let the temporary high convince you that you're infallible.

Your job in every season is just to show up, be present, and stay consistent.

This is exactly like our journey with investing.

The Market's Seasons Will Test You

Just like life, the market has its seasons. We call them bull markets (the ups) and bear markets (the downs). And just like life, they will test your character.

When the market crashes (a bear market), it's tempting to play the victim. "The market is rigged," "This is just my luck," "I'll never recover." This mindset leads to panic selling, locking in losses, and abandoning a perfectly good long-term plan.

When the market is soaring (a bull market), it's just as tempting to play God. "I'm an investing genius," "I can't miss," "This time is different." This mindset leads to arrogance, taking on reckless risk, and believing you can't fail—right before a correction teaches you otherwise.

Both mindsets are traps. 

The only antidote is to play the long game. The only solution is to have a framework built on consistency, emotional discipline, and facts.

Three Facts to Keep You Grounded

When your emotions are high (in any season), it's crucial to ground yourself in data. Here are three historical facts about the market's seasons that every long-term investor should know 

Fact 1: Bull Markets Last Longer Than Bear Markets. 

Periods of growth are the norm; downturns are the exception. While bear markets feel all-consuming, history shows they are relatively short-lived compared to the long, steady climbs of bull markets. The difference? Bull markets last on average 3.5x longer than bear markets! 

Cue the chart, this currently shows the S&P 500 index from 2006 to 2022.  What we can see is a very stark contrast between the lengths of the periods of the bull markets (green) vs the bear markets (red). 

Fact 2: Bull Markets Are Bigger in Magnitude Than Bear Markets. 

The gains from bull markets have historically dwarfed the losses from bear markets. A -30% drop feels painful, but it's often followed by a +50%, +70%, or even +100% recovery and expansion. Staying invested captures this powerful upside. 

Again, cue the chart. We see the huge difference between the magnitude of the bull markets and the bear markets! The difference? Average bull market gains have been more than 5x than that of a bear market! 

This brings us to the earlier point, if you play victim and accept the loss while sacrificing the possible gains, its definitely damaging to your long term wealth.

Fact 3: The Longer Your Time Horizon, The Higher Your Win Rate. 

This is the most important fact for a parent. If you look at the stock market over any 1-day period, it's close to a 50/50 shot. But as you extend your time horizon to 10, 15, or 20+ years, the probability of a positive return approaches 100%. Your child's education fund has a 15-year horizon. Your retirement has a 20+ year horizon. Time is your single greatest asset. 

Bonus Fact: Its not reflected in the above chart, but did you know that according to J.P. Morgan’s research, missing just the 10 best days in the S&P 500 over the past 20 years would have cut your total return by more than half. And those 10 best days? Most occurred within two weeks of the market’s biggest drops. (In most cases, investors wouldn't have time to react yet.) 

Your All-Weather Plan 

Your job as a father and an investor isn't to predict the next season. It's to build a financial plan and a personal mindset that can survive all of them. 

It's about having the discipline to keep investing during the bad seasons and the humility to stay grounded during the good ones. That's how you play the long game. Consistently. 

If this mindset of consistency and emotional discipline resonates with you, let's talk about building your family's "all-weather" framework. 

DM me.