Halloween. Folklore. Traditions. I am amazed at the popularity of Halloween, and equally amazed at how closely it resembles its ancient Celtic roots. The British Isle Celts referred to this holiday as Samhain. It occurred at the end of the Celtic year. The contrast between the “light” part of the year and the “dark” part of the year created “thin spaces” which allowed spirits to leave their realm and enter the earthly realm. Good spirits, usually ancestors, and bad spirits would present themselves. Treats would be left for ancestors, and all manners of tricks would be at play to ward the bad spirits away, mostly by wearing costumes and disguising oneself to escape the attention of these evil actors.
Doubtless, less than 1% of our population knows much of anything of Samhain or about ancient Celtic customs and religion. On order of the Emperor Claudius, the Celtic Druids were all massacred by the Romans, so it is positively amazing that a tradition perhaps dating back to Neolithic times is still a tradition today.
So what are we to make of all this? Why do some traditions continue against all odds? Perhaps it is because they contain elements of universal truths.
The idea of good and evil spiritual influences is as old as mankind and a major component of all major religions. Then there is family. There is no stronger bond in the world than that of family. There is an innate force that makes us want to nurture and protect those with whom we share common blood.
Perhaps there is nothing more primal in man than wanting to protect his family, both physically and metaphysically by keeping evil actors and influences at bay.
In my business, Chartwell Capital Advisors we deal with these issues. The spiritual is very much connected to self-discipline and the stewardship of money. They are interrelated. So in counseling clients about wealth management and legal matters, one would be guilty of malpractice if one avoided the issues of good v. evil.
Human behavior is the primary and almost always the sole source of why people become financially secure and live a life of protecting their families and serving others. There will always be Jeffrey Epsteins who are horrible people who become fantastically rich, but in the end, how do things generally turn out for these folks? Money is not the source of all happiness, and the love of money misdirects human passion away from where God wants it placed. However, money is often a manifestation of how well one lives his life. It states that one worked hard, provided a service that others wanted, that this person is disciplined and responsible and most importantly was able to ward off selfish influences to spend for self-aggrandizement. Ahh, the 7 deadly sins v. the fruits of the spirit. Does one focus on pleasing the “World” or a spirit of truth that renounces the World? I suggest that those who focus on the latter are much more likely to be rich, not to mention a good steward of their blessings.
So what happens when people come to us for legal and wealth management issues. One must assess where their loyalties lie. If they have a drinking or drug problem, or other self-destructive tendencies, they are going to suck at managing their money and will need to be protected against themselves. The same is true for people who live exclusively in the World, thinking that to win favor with the World they must draw the World’s attention by spending money on things they don’t need. One really can’t be a very good legal or financial advisor if one does not know the personality of his client, nor lacks the courage to counsel the client against their bad habits.
Getting back to Samhain, we are metaphorically at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one. Starting November 1, we are in the thin spaces where it is prudent to evaluate ourselves and our personal and financial lives. For years, my firm has conducted a service called the “Chartwell Check Up.” But before I go there, let me indulge you with a quick story.
Years ago, fresh out of law school in my mid-20s, I was involved in commercial real estate and development. I took a week long “CCIM” course in finance. All week long we punched an HP 12C calculator and learned about present and future values, net present values and internal rates of return. I was blown away. Using those lessons, let’s say you are 25 years old, can you find ways to save $20/day? You almost surely can. Let’s say this $20/day commitment grows at the yearly CPI. Using the historic yearly growth rate of the S&P, by the time you are 65 years old, you would likely have an extra $ 2.4 million lying around. Wealth creation is always about self-control and discipline. On that note, the best financial tool you will ever have is to have all your personal account activity drop into Quick Books and run a general ledger of your expenditures. That simple tool, evaluated and analyzed, will almost always make you much richer. If I review your general ledger, I can tell you more about yourself than you know about yourself!
At Chartwell, we do legal work, tax and accounting, money management, life insurance, annuities, property and casualty insurance, benefits, advanced planning and we even sell real estate. Most lawyers are self-absorbed blood sucking bastards; however, the very best bang for your buck is to pay a good lawyer to do your estate planning. Often the return is not 10 times the amount of the fee, but 100 times, even 500 times or more. While we are designing your estate plan, we will review your tax returns, look at your brokerage statements, evaluate how your life insurance is performing, look at your personal lines insurance and keep going down the list. If warranted, we will make recommendations. These savings are usually what I call “seat cushion” money. It feels like “found” money. We have advanced planning techniques that use sophisticated financial tools to generate tax “free” wealth. There are no guarantees, but we have had great success with this “Check Up” program, and many individual examples of savings in the millions based on no extra earned income.
I hate to be preachy, but wealth creation is always about discipline and zoning out the bad influences of the World. Good habits are addictive. Once practiced with regularity, you actually get a dopamine release every time you deny yourself something you don’t need and do something smart with your money.
Happy Halloween.
