I often wondered if there is a correlation with marriage and the stock markets. To answer this question I contacted two players who were heavily involved in the markets. Both were married for many years, a rather rare commodity.
Perry, a friend since school years, eventually changed careers and studied to become a stockbroker, later starting his own investment firm. I knew he had been married to the same woman forever but still, I only gingerly asked about the relationship. He said it was mostly good. When I asked if the markets played a role in how it unfolded, he laughed and said, “Absolutely! Marriage and stocks are a lot alike. You have to find the right person to blend in with your addiction to the markets. Then be careful to keep a balance between the two.”
With half the marriages today being shattered like a broken wine glass, there has to be something extraordinary to have a strong marriage intertwined with a partner who is a trader, So much depends on this that I have heard that it is important to consider a partner’s genetic profile before getting married but there isn’t yet statistical evidence to verify this. Already some dating sites use matching personalities and empathies and claim it promotes long-term potential. Who knows, this could be just be a line to hook you in like the stock market does when it’s a bear market!
A work colleague for many years and still a friend may have revealed the silver bullet. Dean played the field to his advantage, meeting all types of young women before settling down with one. He states unequivocally that those dates that were the most fun were generally not marriage material. He says, “I had to find the one marketable woman for me to invest in before making a final decision.” He exclaimed just like some stocks, some dates are too volatile or slow moving. At the end of the day, the investment selection has to have minimal risk. When I was dating I never once thought about making money — only worrying what the cost of the evening out would be.
The biggest predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour for both relationships and stocks. It is insane to expect different results from either. I, like many of us, thought we could modify our choice of a partner to our way of thinking – only to be rudely disappointed. Warren Buffet was known to say, “Forecasts may tell you a great deal about the forecaster; they tell you nothing about the future.”
Devoting time and attention to your spouse is key to a successful marriage. Dedication is needed to increase the value of your nuptial portfolio. Likewise, you need to dedicate yourself to stock trading and risk management so that portfolio grows too. Like the stock market, marriages have their ups and downs and awareness of this and endurance to stay the course increases your chance of success in both.
Fidelity Investments linked some of their staff positions to a marriage this way; a venture capitalist would see a spark of possibility in either a stock or a partner not normally chosen, or a risk taker would confront that shy girl in the library to eventually get a phone number. A little penny stock of a new girl might turn a love-life into a wild one. Then there is the hedge fund manager constantly meeting people due to strong connections, finding a variety in the dating field until the perfect match floats within reach. Fidelity always suggests to employees and clients that, “Before you marry a person you should make them use a computer with a slow internet to see how they really react.”
Perry recalled a message from the pastor at his wedding 40 years ago that he has never forgotten: “The storms of life will not pass you by.” True enough, there were the periodic storms but the certainty of periodic romantic weekends and magic moments that shone like glorious sunsets did not end either. The stock market too is a gamble but he for one doesn’t over-react to every good or bad signal or trend. Perry recalled the market meltdown of 2012, “It was by far the vilest of my life but I understood that a snapshot of that particular phase was not representative of the big picture and so, my marriage and my investment fund did survive.”
Keeping a relationship thriving is more than enough for most of us. Investing in the stock market is either for the rich or the foolish. Involved in both might result a sudden ‘crash’
