Learning from Thanksgiving: 4 money lessons for savvy investors

A federal holiday in the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November every year. It is also celebrated around the world: unofficially in Brazil and The Philippines and officially in Canada, Granada, Japan (a day later, called Kinrõ Kansha no Hi), China (The Autumn Moon Festival, late September/early October)), as Erntedankfest in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, Homowo festival in Ghana. And in India? From Lohri in Punjab to Thaipusam and Pongal in Tamil Nadu to Bihu in Assam and Uttarayan festival in Gujarat…

But today we have a chance to learn money lessons from the American Thanksgiving festival, not just because The Godfather has a fleeting reference to it, but because India is recovering from the excesses of Diwali and we’re getting emails about ‘Black Friday’ sales from the stores and e-commerce websites from where you do all your shopping.

Lesson 1: An attitude of gratitude: Thanksgiving began with the Native Americans and the Pilgrims

Shakespeare mentions ‘Brownies’ in his play Twelfth Night, and these people who were Puritan Christians rebelled against the Church and left England to create a new world for themselves in America. After more than a couple of false starts and disasters in the middle of the ocean, the awkwardly heavy Mayflower landed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, instead of Virginia. Half the crew and passengers were dead from scurvy and fevers. The first hut they built after a few skirmishes with the natives, was a makeshift hospital. The English crops did not grow, and the ‘settlers’ raided the abandoned Wampanoag grain storage (the tribe had fled after having caught the plague the ships had brought with them). A native American named Squanto (real name Tisquantum) helped the pilgrims connect with the Natives and taught them how to grow crops like corn, beans and squash, and hunt for beavers and fish. The British helped the tribe fight the other tribes with their muskets.   

 Ousamequin, the chief of the tribe and Squanto brought together native Americans and the Pilgrims, now settled at ‘Plimoth’ (modern day Plymouth) to celebrate the first harvest. 

As an investor, don’t begrudge any form of help that comes to you: not just from your money manager, but also from the neighbourhood uncle who is always pouring over newspapers and sharing ‘market news’. Friends who forward tips, and your banker who does not stop sending you emails with news about their best mutual funds, news about the price of gold, and more. You never know which tip will work and you will end up richer. In any case, gratitude for the job that lets you invest, your family who supports you in lean times and everyone who helps you move from success to even more success, deserves a day of gratitude.

Lesson 2: It’s okay to take your eye off the ticker and enjoy with friends, family, food and football

The Thanksgiving Weekend is meant for tables laden with food to be shared with family and friends. Stuffed turkeys (some feast on Turducken: chicken stuffed in a duck that is then stuffed in a turkey, with fillings of carrots and potatoes and more), cranberry sauce, corn, baked marshmallows and sweet potatoes, and more. Special mention is the Pumpkin Pie. Each family treasures their recipes (have you watched the brilliant ‘Bear’ on Disney+Hotstar?!). It’s three days of feasting (the food cooked for Thanksgiving dinner lasts for the whole weekend!).

American Football Leagues keep everyone at home because games are on!

The American President followed a tradition and pardoned Sometimes it’s okay to step away from monitoring your money and kick back and relax with your family and friends. After all, this is what you’ve worked so hard for, isn’t it? 

Lesson 3: How to look past a hard sell: Parades, sales and the arrival of Santa Claus

If you’re in New York, then you’ll witness the most amazing Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade which is like a fixture on the events calendar. This year the parade starts half an hour early (used to be exactly at 9 am) at 77th Street and Central Park West and travels 3 miles to the Macy’s Herald Street Store. It takes roughly three and a half hours. From what used to be Macy’s employees dressed up in colourful costumes and a parade of marionettes, school marching bands and zoo animals is now a parade with gigantic balloons, celebrities, the police marching band, and floats that take your breath away. All roads lead to the biggest store – Macy’s, where everyone waits for Santa Claus to arrive. His arrival means the biggest sale of the year (of course the privileged always get to preview sales a week before!). All stores compete in offering the best deals, and whether you’re shopping in person at the MOMA Design store (one of the best, imho) or Macy’s, Bloomingdales or the humble Target, you will see online shoppers go crazy with deals that will make the most stoic among you into a believer in retail therapy. 

The Friday after Thanksgiving Thursday is called Black Friday because retailers who are in the red try to boost sales to get into black. It is the official start to shopping for Christmas.

Now clever investors have already made a list of stocks, mutual funds and other instruments that they want to invest in, and are in the know. Just as the department stores send you shopping catalogues to help you choose the right gifts for loved ones, you too should be making a ‘to invest’ list of stocks to follow, and trends to watch. Some stocks arrive with shiny glossy information booklets, while others have a bare bones working website. Which one do you trust? Are you shopping for only small and mid-cap funds and are scared to venture into large caps? Be inspired by the glitzy parade of big balloons and small floats and make sure you have a healthy balanced blend of investments… 

Lesson 4: A season of giving. Invest in your peace of mind as well as a happy bank balance

It’s a season to be with your family, but when people are working continents apart and begin to feel alone in the midst of crowd shopping, then it’s best to choose to volunteer at a soup kitchen or at a community service centre that feeds homeless people. People in New York sign up to be a volunteer at the Macy’s Parade pulling the ropes that hold up balloons or just helping out.

In the absence of such a parade for you, dear investor, you can always volunteer to share your expertise with those who are starting out. Help your community by giving your time to company CSR initiatives. You never know how many Karma coins you may be collecting!

Manisha Lakhe is a poet, film critic, traveller, founder of Caferati — an online writer’s forum, hosts Mumbai’s oldest open mic, and teaches advertising, films and communication. She can be reached on Twitter at @manishalakhe.

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Updated: 23 Nov 2023, 09:04 AM IST