Year-End Thoughts Before Our Welcome Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving's almost here. How did that happen? 

However it happened, we welcome it. Even as markets close on Thursday (Thanksgiving) and reopen on Friday, reality is that there's a break in the action for a longer-than-usual long weekend. And those of us who labor assiduously on a daily basis can't help but welcome such an extended break. Maybe we even extend it further by taking days of before and/or after this Thanksgiving respite.

Wonderful, isn't it?

Okay, so it's the same every year. The New Year begins, the days roll along and - voila - Thanksgiving, our grand national holiday celebration with family (ideally) suddenly appears.

The day rises above all races and religions. We're all in it together. Turkey - for most of us - becomes the glue that binds. If not turkey, then some other feast-worthy ingredients to satisfy the palettes and stomachs of family and friends gathered together to - again, ideally - give thanks.

Somehow, despite the constant annual repetition of this venerable observance and and respite from daily labor, this year seems a bit more welcome than most. We've just exited a period of rather jarring and unpleasant battering known as the Presidential Election campaign. Not that other similar campaigns haven't been as adversarial, of course. But this one did seem particularly unpleasant and jarring. And it followed a string of unpleasant and jarring years.

These last few years witnessed our politics become even more divided than it had been pre-Trump. They witnessed our society split even more starkly between - well, how exactly do we characterize the two sides? Democrat and Republican? Liberal and Conservative? Radical/Progressive and Traditional? Does any of this totally capture it?

And still we'll likely all be in some way, shape, or form, thankful beginning a few days from now. Either this is a sincere expression of people who know that being thankful ought to take up space in their daily lives as a regular diet, or the expression of a habit that we all feel we must acknowledge and give a tip of the proverbial cap. 

But do take Thanksgiving - the thankful part - seriously in some way, shape, or form.

And do extend the thankfulness out to the rest of the year. After all, if we try to live without some sense of gratitude for all we've been given, life does become a real drudge at best, a bitter grinding waste at worst.

For example, as 2024 begins to wind down, consider all that you've been given, all that you have to be grateful for. Sure, some of us have had things tougher than others. Maybe we've had a death (or more) in the family. Maybe we've lost our job and are seeking gainful employment. Maybe our marriage has hit a few (or more) speed bumps. Maybe our children have been going through tough times - especially our adult children.

You know the drill. The list can go on and on. But still, there's always space for gratitude. 

Personally, this has been a challenging year work-wise. The output has been at times more than a weary mind and body can manage - although somehow things were indeed managed. We've had adult children experience a number of serious difficulties that cause us to worry, even as we try to lend a hand in some way. (You never get over concern for your children, both materially and - more important - spiritually.) And every year-end now brings back the recollection of the sickness and death of our oldest child, now almost six year gone since. This particularly never becomes a routine acknowledgment. His ever-present absence never dissipates. The Great Sadness that descended during the Christmas Season of 2018 until his death in 2019 has always surrounded us when we approach Christmas.

And still we find so much to be grateful for.

All of this will put our focus and concern about market and the economy into perspective, both on a professional and on a personal level. Frankly, it's a lot easier to avoid obsessing on material matters on a personal level. Not that our family doesn't care at all about money and material goods. But we've managed to hold these up to the perspective of our belief that, in the end, all that matters is that we get to Heaven some day.

Professionally can be a bit more challenging. We don't determine or advise on (for the most part) the perspective our clients have about their money or material possessions. We must assume they take these seriously in some degree. Therefore we take seriously our responsibility to help them preserve what they've managed to amass, even as we suggest ways to continue to hedge against the seemingly endless chain of threats and/or disasters lined up to snap it away - at least a good chunk of it.

It can be a daunting challenge.

But it's at this time, in this spirit of gratitude that we can indeed lend a hand here, that we decide if we can or want to continue our professional mission one more year.

One more thought before signing off in anticipation of Thanksgiving: Consider looking back and forward in these coming days before the great feast.

Looking back, you can assess how things went in your personal and work life. Our clients who tend to be on top of things already have a good idea about their 2024 results - at least when it comes to their business and their finance, if not their whole lives. This is a good time for that.

As for looking forward, well, it's a good time to not only be grateful for 2024 blessings, but also to note what's wanting that might be addressed in 2025. And if you don't have some sort of plan to address those items (and there typically will be more than one), then it's a good time to get some sort of plan in place before the New Year rolls around.

Will all this in hand, we wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!.