In 1974, a man put on his Sunday shoes on a Tuesday to go see Mr. Henderson at the savings and loan. Mr. Henderson sat three pews behind them in church and knew the family's word was good. That...
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News for the America we remember |
I remember sitting in the passenger seat of my father's old Ford back in 1974. We were headed down to the brick building on the corner of Main and Elm. My father had his good Sunday shoes on, even though it was a Tuesday. He wasn't going there to fill out a stack of colored papers or stare at a computer screen. He was going to see Mr. Henderson. Mr. Henderson was the president of the local savings and loan, but more importantly, he was a man who sat three pews behind us every week. He knew my father didn't like to carry debt. He knew my grandfather had paid back every cent he owed during the lean years of the Depression. When my father needed a loan to expand the workshop behind our house, there was no talk of a three-digit score or an algorithm in a skyscraper five states away. There was a firm handshake and a look in the eye. |
Back then, your reputation was something you carried in your pocket just like your wallet. It had a real, dollar-for-dollar value. If you told the man at the hardware store you would be back on Friday to square up for a new set of hinges, he didn't ask for a credit card to hold on file. He simply nodded and went back to his ledger. Your word was a financial asset. It was built up over decades of showing up on time, mowing the widow's lawn for free, and keeping your fences mended. |
It was a slow process, much like seasoning a cast iron skillet. You couldn't buy it, and you certainly couldn't fake it through a clever app on a phone. Today, we have replaced that personal touch with something we call efficiency. A bank knows exactly what you bought at the grocery store last night and how many days before the deadline you paid your electric bill. On paper, this is supposed to be fair. But in doing so, we have lost the ability to see the person behind the numbers. A credit score doesn't know that a man lost his job because his wife was sick. It only knows the math. |
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When my father might have skipped a payment to Mr. Henderson, he wouldn't just have worried about a late fee. He would have been ashamed to walk into the diner. He would have felt he let down a neighbor. That social pressure acted as a safety net for the whole community. It kept people honest because the cost of being dishonest was losing your place in the circle. You didn't want to be the person the town couldn't trust. That was a heavy burden to carry in a small town where everyone knew the color of your front door. |
Now, when we deal with giant corporations based in New York or Charlotte, that sense of personal duty is gone. If you're a day late on a mortgage payment to a mega-bank, you aren't hurting a friend. You are just a line item on a spreadsheet. It feels victimless. On the other side of the desk, the banker doesn't have to look at the family sitting across from him and decide if they are worth a risk. He just clicks a button and lets the computer decide. We've gained speed, but we've lost soul. We've traded the wisdom of the community for |
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You’re Invited: Live Tax-Smart Investing Webinar |
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Your portfolio could be losing more to taxes than you might realize. On July 23, Range’s CFPs and CPAs share the portfolio moves that can help you maximize your after-tax returns — join us live, and bring your questions for Q&A. |
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This webinar is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Range defines "high earners" as households with income over $300k. |
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