Investing for the Long Run

We spend so much time talking about investing in the stock market. When the world feels like it’s falling apart, the advice is the same: stay the course. You build your portfolio around life, adjusting only as life changes.

Reflecting on the COVID bear market just a few short years ago, things seemed scary in the moment, but it bounced back about as fast as it dropped.

That’s the impossible truth of investing. You can’t time the bottom. You can’t predict the recovery. You just keep showing up, even when it’s hard, and trust that over time, the story bends upward.

That same lesson applies to life.

The best investments I’ve ever made weren’t in a fund or an index. They are in friendships.

The kind of friendships that grow with time and consistency. The kind that gets stronger when you lean in, even when life is busy, distracting, or painful.

Just like the markets, there were seasons when it would have been easier to walk away. But every time I showed up, the return was richer than I could have imagined.

For me, Mark is proof of that. The 20–year “investment” in our friendship became the most valuable friendship of my life. There are only two investments more important to me, my faith and my family.

And now, investing in my mastermind group over the last 3.5 years is becoming one of my most valuable group of friends. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without them.

It’s the same with my clients. I see every relationship as a long-term investment, too. One built with trust, care, and consistency. And the return is real: lives lived with more peace, clarity, and freedom.

So maybe the real question isn’t just, “Am I invested?” but, “Am I investing in the right places?”

Because portfolios may dip and climb along the way, but over time they rise for those who stay patient and keep investing. When nurtured, friendships, faith, family, and the people we serve grow the same way. That’s the kind of wealth that lasts.