What Being a New Parent Has Taught Me About Investing

My wife Calli and I recently welcomed our first child, Moses, to our family on March 8th, 2023. It's been a whirlwind adjusting to a new life in our home, but while our sleep has been reduced, our joy has increased.

As is often the case for new parents, I've spent a significant amount of time pondering how I can be the best father possible to my new son. I had great parents growing up and many of my ideas often come from my own experience, but I also recognize there's a lot of “noise” in society about what it means to be a good parent. As I have continued to seek out wisdom from those who have gone before me, the principles of being a faithful parent reminded me of much of the wisdom on how to be a faithful investor.

As much as I love my new son, he has a schedule that isn't quite aligned with my preferences at this point. All I can do is show up every day with a heart that longs to provide for him and love him, recognizing that there are going to be hard moments and hard days.

For the majority of us who choose to invest in the stock market, most of what we have control over is how much we choose to put in and take out. Time and again we see examples that show consistently sticking with it during good times and especially hard times can help lead to a more desirable outcome in the long run.

Whether it is kids or investments, there are going to be tantrums, new all-time highs, naughty days, and a lot of time in between where you're doing the best you can to get by. Similarly, it can be tempting to think a trip to the “Star Wars theme park” or “the perfect investment” can check the box for “good dad” or “good investor,” but the “drip irrigation” of love and “dollar cost averaging” of time will likely win out in the end on both fronts.

Staying away from the “noise” is half the battle, where negative headlines like “5 things Parents do wrong” or “Society is collapsing, get out of the market now!” generate a lot more clicks. Having someone you can trust to talk to, bounce ideas off of, or just flat-out help you because you don't know what you’re doing, can go a long way to help.

I hope you’ll forgive me for speaking with any authority on the subject with a son who is still in diapers, and while any comparison of a child and a portfolio will inevitably fall short, sometimes it's helpful to be reminded that what you focus on has an impact on how you act and how you feel. If we are constantly worried about what we’re doing wrong, overreacting to the latest noise, it can be hard to take a step back and see the big picture. Here’s to decades of taking things one day at a time, and by God’s grace, trusting that things will work out in the end.