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Focus on Philanthropy: Children Mending Hearts
We founded New Market Wealth Management because our work and life experiences told us there was a better way to help people manage their money. An additional goal was to create a corporate culture where our partners and staff feel empowered to share ideas, and where they're encouraged to spend time and energy on the charities they love.
In today's observation we're bringing focus to one of our partners, Zac Bindler, and a cause close to his heart, Children Mending Hearts.
Since 2008,
Children Mending Hearts (
CMH) has provided free art education programs to thousands of students in schools throughout Los Angeles County as well as community organizations including the YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, After School Allstars and Girl Scouts of America.
CMH aspires to create generations of global citizens who will tap into their empathy to create positive change in their community and the world. Their program is geared toward children in kindergarten through eighth grade and is designed to help students explore prejudices, find commonalities and understand what life is like walking in another person's shoes. Students are presented with a social issue, such as bullying or homelessness, and work in groups or individually to create an art project that reflects their understanding of the issue. Projects include everything from anime drawings to portraits to service-learning campaigns.
According to CMH:
- Each day, 160,000 students miss school for fear of being bullied
- More than one out of every five students report being bullied, and bullying is a major risk factor for teen suicide
- A recent survey of 10,000+ students in 35 middle and high schools found that in schools where students reported having more empathy, kids experienced fewer instances of bullying and were more likely to stop bullying.
As a board member, Zac has seen first-hand the positive impact this organization has had on children,
especially
at-risk youth. Zac says, "The CMH curriculum allows kids to learn about the world beyond their own community which is key because t
eaching the next generation how to relate to each other and get along is necessary to ending the pain of bullying and intolerance."
If you're interested in getting involved with Children Mending Hearts
we invite you to learn more at their
website or to reach out directly to
Zac at New Market Wealth Management. Or,
consider attending their Empathy Rocks
program to be held on June 10th in Los Angeles
. As
their annual fundraiser, Empathy Rocks, attracts celebrities, musicians, tech and business leaders who share CMH's vision of ending a culture of bullying and inspiring children to be positive, compassionate change makers. As one of the entertainment industry's premiere philanthropic events, it's sure to be a fun day in the sun!
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Stocks experienced steep losses last week over new political turmoil. The S&P 500 suffered its worst weekly decline since the beginning of 2016 and the Nasdaq fared even worse on news of Facebook's involvement with how its user data was shared. Stocks fell after the administration announced new tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports; after new personnel changes (the resignation of Trump's lead lawyer in the Mueller probe and the appointment of a new National Security Advisor); and again after a tweet from President Trump threatening to veto the newly passed spending bill.
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> Fed Funds Rate:
As we reported last week, the Federal Funds rate rose another quarter-point to a target range of 1½% to 1¾%. Because it was so widely expected, the news was easily overshadowed by other political developments. However, policymakers shifted their expectations for future rate increases slightly higher, and lowered their expectations for the unemployment rate to 3.8% by year end. This suggests the Fed will allow the economy to grow faster than its long-term potential for a time and push inflation a bit above the central bank's 2% target rate.
> Impact of Tariffs:
In response to President Trump's plan to level tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, China announced plans to add a 15% tariff on a range of US products including wine. A new report shows that China is the fifth largest importer of California wine and, with a rapidly growing middle class, their consumption has increased 250% in just the last 5 years. According to the Napa Valley Vintners Association, the new tariff will "have a big impact on our ability to sell and be competitive" in China.
> Spending and Debt:
Last week Congress approved a $1.3 trillion spending bill and avoided another government shutdown. The additional spending will further increase the national debt, which hit $20 trillion on September 8, 2017 and grew by an additional trillion in the last 6 months - topping out at over $21 trillion. The Committee for a Responsible Budget projects trillion-dollar annual deficits returning permanently by next year, and our national debt exceeding the size of the economy within a decade.
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In a twitter post, Brian Acton started the movement when he wrote "It is time," adding the hashtag #deletefacebook. Acton co-founded and sold his own app, WhatsApp, to Facebook back in 2014 for $16 billion. Acton is not the first former Facebook executive to express unease about the company after leaving it, and privacy concerns are not the only reason users are considering a change.
Social Comparison Theory
Multiple studies have found that the more time you spend on Facebook (and other social media), the more you will think that others have happier lives compared to your own. This can lead to dissatisfaction with your own life. According to
Psychology Today, "The social comparison theory states we determine our own social and personal worth based on how we stack up against others." Social media is a platform set up for this type of comparison.
Researchers at the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen tested the theory in 2015. They took a group of 1,095
Facebook users and split them into two groups. The first group were allowed to continue using the social network on a daily basis, while the other group were forced to go completely cold turkey, staying off the site for the duration of the experiment.
The
results were revealing - after just 7 days 88% of the group that left Facebook said they felt "happy" as opposed to 81% in the group still using the site. They also felt less angry, less lonely, less depressed, more decisive, more enthusiastic, and enjoyed their lives more. Ditching Facebook also appeared to reduce stress levels by as much as 55%.
Leaving Facebook isn't a clear-cut path to data privacy. And i
t probably won't make you smarter or more cultured. But reducing or eliminating your dependence on Facebook may increase
your appreciation of what's important in life.
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New Market Wealth Management offers modern investment solutions backed by extensive research and experience serving the needs of wealthy families. Through our strategic partnership with
Cliffwater LLC
, we have access to institutional-quality research, investment due diligence and asset allocation tools. We believe this level of experience and unique access to in-depth, sophisticated research are essential for success in today's complex world markets.
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