Music legend Dolly Parton sadly died last month, with fans and celebrities from around the world paying tribute to the ‘queen of country music’. Famed for her many iconic songs, including ‘I Will Always Love You’, ‘Here You Come Again’ and ‘Jolene’, she was also known for her larger-than-life outfits that often-featured rhinestones, fringes and bright colours.
Indeed, it was her unique presence on the stage that led to one of her most famous remarks, which was: ’it costs a lot of money to look this cheap’. The quip was typical of the music legend, who often made comments that contained humour, wisdom and self-awareness in equal measure.
Yet some of her words of wisdom could hold powerful lessons on how to invest more successfully. Read on to discover three of Dolly’s remarks, and what they could teach you about investing.
The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain
It’s said that Dolly first used this well-known statement in a 1994 interview for her book Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. The remark reminds us that if you have a goal, there will probably be challenges along the way.
Accepting this fact and focusing on the goal, instead of the problem, is usually a much more effective way to fulfil your objective, something experienced investors understand. Ask any successful investor, and they’re likely to tell you that they expect the stock market to suffer downturns at some point, and potentially a major one.
Market fluctuations are an unavoidable feature of equity investing and should be seen as the price to be paid for the long-term growth potential investing could offer. This is why successful investors also know that it’s the long-term performance that counts, not short-term.
When the markets suffer a downturn, selling investments to limit losses usually turns a paper loss into a reality. Furthermore, it prevents the investment from recovering the losses, and potentially growing in value, when the stock market recovers – which historically, it’s tended to do.
To demonstrate this, you might want to consider the following illustration, which shows the performance of the FTSE 100 between August 2006 and August 2026.
Source: London Stock Exchange
As you can see, over the long term, the index rose significantly in value, despite major downturns due to the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit and Covid. If you had sold your investments during these downturns and switched to cash, you would have locked in the losses and missed out on the growth potential that followed. Please remember that past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails
In fact, this was not originally said by Dolly, however she used the quote on several occasions to acknowledge the need to adapt to life’s challenges. While the quote, which may have nautical roots from the 18th Century, was used by Dolly to convey the belief that adversity should be faced with courage, it could provide another lesson.
While not immediately obvious, its sage advice about the level of risk your investments may be exposed to. As risk is always present when investing, it’s vital to ensure that the amount your money is exposed to is right for you (and your circumstances).
Exposing your investments to the right level of risk could help to maximise their growth potential, and help you achieve your financial goals, while providing peace of mind that your money’s exposure to losses is at a level you’re happy to accept.
If your investments are exposed to too much risk, you could suffer significant losses during a stock market downturn, which could put your financial security at risk. As a result, you may even have to reduce your standard of living.
With too little risk, your investment’s growth potential may not be enough to achieve your objectives. As you can see, making sure your investments are exposed to the right level of risk is vital, and something you should always speak to a financial adviser about.
They can explain the potential opportunities and pitfalls of increasing or decreasing the level of investment risk in clear and understandable language. This will enable you to make a decision you’ll thank yourself for later on.
Storms make trees take deeper roots
This expression has been attributed to the country music legend, who used it several times as one of her inspirational ‘Dollyisms’. The expression, which refers to the fact strength can be gained from hardship, also reminds investors of the importance of remaining resilient when the stock market suffers a downturn.
Watching your investments drop in value can feel extremely uncomfortable, especially when media headlines scream major losses and other investors start selling. While it may be understandable for investors to feel tempted to sell in order to limit losses, doing so could be something you may later regret.
This is because getting drawn in to the background noise to sell, and following other investors who decide to, could turn a paper loss into a real one. More than this, it is likely to deprive your money of future growth potential when the stock market later recovers.
Ignoring the media, and the actions of other investors, and focusing on your long-term objectives is usually the better approach. This will help to provide you with the resilience to remain calm and ride the downturn out, so that your money is still exposed to the stock market when it recovers.
As you can see from the above FTSE 100 illustration, doing this could result in significant long-term growth, something you could miss out on if you sell.
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We hope you find this blog useful; however, it should not be seen as advice. If you would like to discuss your investments, or whether investing is right for you, please call us on 0333 010 0008 or contact us to arrange a no obligation initial meeting with one of our independent financial advisers.