Happy Birthday! As of July 4th, The United States of America will celebrate our 250th anniversary, the semiquincentennial of our nation. This month’s Big Picture celebrates the great men who made this possible, and some powerful messages they passed down to us — messages that are every bit as relevant in 2026 as they were in the 18th century.
You may not know that the Founding Fathers, those who created our nation, its principles and guiding documents, shared one important thing in particular with you. Most of them were high net worth investors. Unlike many of today’s “professional” politicians, the founders truly understood and valued the concepts of free enterprise, capitalism, limited government, and the empowerment of the individual. Why? Because their ranks mostly consisted of successful businessmen, professionals, and investors. They knew how money worked. They knew how business worked. They knew what it took to build lasting wealth and they wanted to create a nation where anyone could do the same if they chose to.
Happy 250th Independence DaY
They were also the thought leaders of their time.
They despised big government, scorned the concentration of power, and abhorred government overreach and excessive taxation (that last one really got them rankled).
They championed hard work, the right to own property or business, and an individual’s right and ability to “raise himself up.”
We all know names like Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Paine, and Franklin. But there were many, many more. And they enlightened others to their way of thinking. So much so that in April of 1775, a group near Lexington and Concord decided they’d had enough of draconian government and turned their muskets on British regulars for the first time. A couple of months later, they made their thoughts known even more forcefully at Bunker Hill.
A little over a year later, the thought leaders put their values in writing and sent the Declaration of Independence to the King more or less telling him they would no longer require his services. The King, of course, didn’t like that very much, and several years of war followed. Fortunately, we all know how it ended.
This July 4th, as we mark a quarter-millennium of American independence, we thought you might enjoy some of the founders’ thoughts on money, investing, and taxes. You may agree or disagree with some of them but these men were the best and brightest of a very philosophical era. We still enjoy the benefits of what they created.
Here are a few examples, for your Independence Day enjoyment.
The Founders’ Thoughts on Government Regulation, Commerce and Wealth Redistribution
“A wise and frugal government… shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government.” — Thomas Jefferson
“remember that time is money.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Banks have done more injury to the religion, morality, tranquility, prosperity, and even wealth of the nation than they can have done or ever will do good.” — John Adams
“A people… who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.” — George Washington
“To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquired by it.” — Thomas Jefferson
“Beware the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry.” — Thomas Paine
“Remember that time is money.” — Benjamin Franklin
It is true that many of the founders were wealthy, which in today’s world would invite suspicion. But like most of today’s affluent, most earned it through good decision-making, hard work, education, and wise investing of the capital they created (and a few by marrying well). They wanted to create a nation where anyone could do the same — unfettered by overbearing government interference or excessive taxation.
There is no political statement here. I’m sure the founders could find fault with both of today’s political parties and there would likely be plenty they would be unhappy about in 2026. But the wealth you or I have achieved was largely made possible by the laws, guidelines, and values these men put in place for us over two and a half centuries ago.
So, as we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday this year, remember this additional reason to give thanks to the generation that gave us so much.
We’ll conclude this month’s patriotic Big Picture with a couple of timeless investing lessons from our first two Presidents.
Investing Lessons from Washington and Adams
George Washington: Diversify Your Assets
We all think of George Washington as a General and President. But Washington was also one of the largest landowners in the colonies and an enthusiastic entrepreneur and investor. (Were he alive today, I’m convinced he would be selling option spreads.) He was also heavily into commodities. And it was in commodities that the General learned one of the most valuable lessons in all of investing.
Washington: General, enthusiastic investor, and big believer in diversification. He would have made a great option seller.
In the early 18th century, Virginia’s planter class grew rich in one trade: fine tobacco sold to European buyers. The good times lasted so long that when the tobacco market collapsed in the 1760s, almost nobody changed course. Jefferson, brilliant as he was, kept pouring money into a falling market. Washington did not. Historians have credited him as the first of the great Virginia planters to grasp that survival meant refusing to depend on a single crop.
Once he concluded tobacco was a losing proposition, Washington moved into wheat, selling his best grain abroad and the lower grades to his Virginia neighbors. When land values softened, he stopped buying acreage and rented out what he already held. He fished the Chesapeake commercially and even charged local merchants to use his docks. One man, four income streams. Conventional wisdom says don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Our first president was diversified, two centuries before modern portfolio theory gave it a name.
John Adams: Not an Expert? Get Some Help.
John Adams, our second president, was a gifted attorney who actually defended the British soldiers who fired on citizens at the Boston Massacre (and won). But when it came to areas outside his expertise, he learned the value of enlisting trusted assistance. Selling options likely would have served Adams’ needs as well. As he most likely would not have been good at picking market direction (although I’m guessing he would have opened a joint account with Abby).
By most accounts, Adams was not particularly good with money. Luckily for him, his wife Abigail was something of a financial genius. While John spent years away serving the new nation, Abigail ran the family’s affairs, and she ran them her way. John’s instinct, like most gentlemen of his era, was to buy land. Abigail quietly steered family capital instead into depreciated government securities, bought at deep discounts when faith in the new republic’s credit was scarce. When the bonds were ultimately honored, the family’s position multiplied, vastly outperforming the farmland John favored. Adams had the wisdom to recognize where the real financial talent in the household resided, and to let it work.
The lesson aged well: when something important sits outside your expertise, find someone with a demonstrated talent for it and trust them to do their job.
Some lessons are timeless. Happy 250th Independence Day!
— Justin
Futures and options trading involves substantial risk of loss and is not suitable for all investors. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Only risk capital should be used.
