My friend Steve has a book of stories, poems, verses, and parables that he always brings on long river trips to share around the campfire.
Here’s one of those stories I’ve always loved:
A farmer was looking for a farm hand. An old man came looking for a job. When the farmer asked for his qualifications, he said, “I can sleep through a storm.”
The farmer needed dependable help and imagined a younger man would be better, so he told the old man “No” and hired someone else. But the farmer found it difficult to keep trustworthy farm hands. After several failed hires, the old man came back. The farmer looked him over and asked him again, “Why should I give you this job?”
Again, the old man answered, “I can sleep through a storm.”
That didn’t make much sense to the farmer and even alarmed him some, but he was desperate for help, so he hired the old man.
Not long afterward, a terrible storm came up during the middle of the night. The worried farmer went to get the old man to check on the animals. The farm hand’s cabin was near the barn. No lights were on in his cabin and there was no evidence that he was up checking on things.
The farmer desperately banged on the door and when the sleepy-eyed old man finally came to the door, the farmer was livid, “Don’t you hear the storm raging out here? Why aren’t taking care my farm, you idiot?!?”
The old man yawned and calmly replied, “Oh, I told you, I can sleep through a storm.”
Furious, the farmer ran to the barn where he found the barn doors securely shut; the animals had been fed, watered, and locked in their stalls. Then the farmer ran about the farm in the wind and rain to find that the farm tools had been placed in the storage shed, safe from the elements. The tractor had been moved into its garage. The shutters of the farmhouse had been securely fastened. A good supply of logs had been set next to the fireplace. The bales of hay had been bound and wrapped in tarps.
All was well except that the farmer was cold, wet, and tired. The farmer walked back to his house as the wind and rain continued to beat down upon him. He sat down on the porch, pouring water from his boots as he took them off. The farmer was physically and emotionally drained, but now he understood the meaning of the old man’s words, “I can sleep through a storm.”
Some financial advisors are like the old farm hand
They’ve seen storms come and go. They know that no one can predict these storms! (Sorry meteorologists – we know you are better than your reputation.)
So, when “skies are clear”, they’re building holistic financial plans that allow their clients to sleep through the storm.
Rather than wasting time trying to find the next Google or “5 Hot Stocks Today,” they use investment strategies that have been tested over many storm cycles to produce reliable results.
When both your plan and your portfolio are designed with these storms in mind, you can follow the plan without fear
The farm hand may not *need* to close up the barn every night, but if he does, he knows it will survive the storm.
At Bright Road Wealth Management, we don’t cross our fingers and hope a storm won’t come. We don’t pretend we can avoid the storms.
Instead, we regularly remind clients that a storm is coming, but we don’t know when. Well prepared and knowing that our work is done, we can sleep peacefully through the night.
Our clients sleep through the night, too!
Over time, our clients have learned that they don’t need to call us every time the market takes a turn. In fact, most of them ignore all the noise about the market movements entirely.
If the potential for storms or market noise in the news is keeping you up at night, schedule time with us to learn what it’s like to sleep well again!
