Why We Do It

The summer after my sophomore year in college in 1987 I got a part time job at a brokerage firm to earn extra money to pay for my junior year.  I got paid five dollars an hour to run errands and to be a gopher for the vice president. A few months later I got promoted to client services representative taking calls and helping clients (this was before the internet).

On that fateful Monday October 19, 1987 the Dow Jones went from 2,246 to 1,738 losing 508 points or 22.61%. This day would later be called Black Monday and it would be the worst market crash since the great depression in 1929. As a client services representative taking calls, I had a deluge of panicked clients trying to sell their entire portfolio in fear they might lose everything. 

What I saw happen in the subsequent days and weeks would change my life forever. My boss who was the vice president had more than 20 years of experience and had seen many market cycles knew that price volatility was a normal part of the market and had enough experience to know that you have to look at market declines not as losses but as potential opportunities. For the next several weeks he navigated his client’s portfolios and helped preserve their nest eggs from financial ruin. Within a matter of months, the Dow Jones eventually started another bull market run that lasted more than 15 years.

What I learned from that experience is that professional financial advice serves a great purpose. It helps people and their families to achieve their financial goals, and for the past 30 years, helping people has been my life’s work. 

This is why I do it.

-David Park