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As we head into another year, the classic question feels as relevant as ever: is the glass half full or half empty?

“Up North: On Top — Life in Canada, Home of the World’s Most Affluent Middle Class.”
— New York Times, April 30, 2014

With our increasing longevity, we seem to be trading our focus on the ‘fountain of youth’ for the ‘fountain of usefulness,’ where having purpose outweighs a desire for youthfulness. In a recent survey, 83 percent of those ages 65 and older say it’s more important to be “useful than youthful” in their retirement years.

Think kids these days are getting too much screen time? There’s another demographic
struggling to put down their phones: Baby Boomers. As one 83-year-old put it: “I’m so
attached to this thing. If I leave the house and forget (it), I’ll go back."

As we look ahead to a new year, the sense of uncertainty many of us feel today may not be entirely new. While Canadian consumer sentiment recently turned negative, and the number of times “uncertainty” appears in the Canadian press reached its highest level since the pandemic, consider that we’ve been here before.

When ChatGPT reached 100 million active users in just two months, it highlighted the accelerating pace at which technology is transforming the world. Consider that it took the social media platform Instagram 2.5 years to reach the same user base and the internet 7 years to acquire 50 million users.

It may seem implausible, but some researchers believe that the first person to live to 150 has already been born.1 Our lifespan, and more crucially, our “healthspan” — the period in which we are in good physical and mental shape — continues to extend.

“Change is inevitable...”

As the saying goes, “the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” After a difficult year in the financial markets, we may all benefit from a dose of optimism as we enter 2023.

When a leading courier company optimized its delivery routes decades ago, many drivers felt it extended their trips. It favoured right-hand turns at all times, so the most direct route to a destination was almost never taken. Yet, the approach improved efficiency and reduced fuel usage.

These days, investors have needed a significant amount of conviction. After last year’s largely uninterrupted rise in equity markets, 2022 has seen a rapid reversal in direction and sentiment.

As the current headlines continue to test our resolve, we are reminded that equity investing is never a smooth road.

Adversity can make us stronger. Last spring, during the depths of the pandemic, the Wall Street Journal published an article that suggested that when humans prevail through extreme emotional and physical challenges, they often emerge stronger, in what psychologists have termed “posttraumatic growth.”

When people are asked to choose between 10 hours of undesirable work on October 1, or 12 hours on October 15, most people will choose 10 hours — the logical choice. Except, on September 30, many change their minds. Indeed, certain tendencies can impact our decision making.1

In the excitement of rising markets, it may be easy to overlook the importance of patience in investing. Instant gratification has become a way of life. We have been conditioned to expect instantaneous results through influences like on-demand television and one-click shopping. Many of us aren’t willing to wait more than two seconds for a website to load.