QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Life is not about ‘or’ — it is about ‘and.’ It’s magical and messy. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking. It’s delight and disappointment. Grace and grief. Exquisite and excruciating, often at the exact same time.”

— Kristi Nelson

BROUGHT TO YOU BY: PASSIVE INVESTING

THE MAIN STORY: THE GREATEST GIFT

Overview

One of my (Matthew) favorite movies is the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the 1946 film where an angel comes to help a frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.

After a Christmas celebration with my family yesterday, I’d like to highlight a few lessons from this timely movie.

The first time I watched the movie as an adult, on Christmas right before the pandemic began, my eyes welled with tears. It was a touching reminder of the beauty of our everyday lives, actions and choices, and the impact we can have on other people.

There are plenty of warm and fuzzy messages of love and family. But the film also offers financial lessons that remain (painfully) relevant all these years later.

As we reflect in gratitude and celebrate the holiday season, here are some lessons from the story.

The power of doing good

The film follows the life of an average man named George Bailey in the small community of Bedford Falls, in upstate New York. Ever since George was a child, he dreamed of seeing the world and escaping responsibility.

But rather than chase his dream of travelling the world, George stays in the town with his family and friends to run Bailey Building and Loan, a small community bank with a mortgage business.

We see George’s life: He saves his brother when he falls through an icy pond, he helps a man avoid taking the wrong medication, compliments strangers, and goes out of his way for others in small, random acts of kindness.

When his father dies, George inherits the family business, then forgoes college to keep it afloat when a greedy businessman in town (Mr. Potter) tries to dissolve it.

When the Great Depression hits, he uses his honeymoon savings to rescue the firm again. Later, he gets married, sticks with his modest company, and watches his brother, Harry, become a war hero.

Overcoming troubles

Disaster strikes when George’s uncle misplaces $8,000 of the Building and Loan’s money.

He loses his temper, yells at his wife, Mary, and insults his children. He fears bankruptcy and even prison.

He storms off to the bridge in town and contemplates taking his own life, mere moments from jumping into the water below.

But then an angel (Clarence) appears, using it as an opportunity to teach George the value of his life. Clarence shows him a tour of what the town would have been like without him.

George, for example, learns that had he not been alive, he wouldn’t have been present to save his drowning little brother, Harry. The men Harry saved in war, thus, would have died too.

George also wouldn’t have been there to rescue the bank from disaster, and his wife might have been lonely and unmarried.

“One man’s life touches so many others,” Clarence says. “When he isn’t around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he?”

Financial lessons

There’s a scene where George is at the bank and says, “The money’s not there!” He explains to residents whose deposits got rolled into other products — there are no stacks of bills tucked away in a vault.

Thus, the film shows how intimately our banking system is interwoven with our finances and how destabilizing financial panics can be on society.

The film challenges us to consider what banks are meant to do, and who they’re meant to serve.

There’s another financial and life lesson: When George’s son announces that the neighbors have a new car, George teaches him about comparison. “Well, what’s the matter with our car?” he says, urging him to fully appreciate the blessings they do have.

As you may remember, we wrote last weekend about how high expectations and comparison rob us of our happiness and even our success.

Life itself is the ultimate gift

A key takeaway from the film: Life itself is the ultimate gift, and our mere existence is a beautiful miracle. When George is brought back to Earth by the angel, he’s thankful to simply hug his wife and children.

There’s the profound message that each life is exceptionally and uniquely important.

The movie ends with a touching line about community and friendship as George realizes that the stuff that matters — family, friends, and faith — far exceed everything else.

He comes to appreciate things, which aren’t measured in dollars, but in the currency of friendship and family, and the good karma one puts out into the world.

“Dear George, remember, no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings. Love, Clarence.”

Dive deeper

NBC aired “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Eve, in all its black-and-white glory. You may stream the film on Prime Video, Vudu, Apple TV, or Google Play movies.

You can also read The Greatest Gift which the movie is based on.

We”ll see you again tomorrow for our normal markets coverage.

Happy holidays!

SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

That’s it for today on We Study Markets!

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