The Answer to Financial Nihilism

Financial Nihilism is a philosophy that suggests financial systems, markets, and even the concepts of money lack true value or legitimacy. Thank you, Google AI, for this definition, because who in real life uses terms like this anyway? 
But this is a powerful and prevalent idea. Scroll through the Wall Street Journal on any given day. Listen to Fox or MSNBC, your choice. And you will see titles like, “JD Vance is Wrong: The Market isn’t a Tool” and “DJT to Raise $2.5 Billion to Invest in Bitcoin.” Plus, you will see thousands of comments, because everyone has and shares their opinions

Niels Kaastrup-Larsen recently wrote: “In the spring of 2021, the well-known car rental company Hertz had just declared bankruptcy. Its financial statements were a disaster, and creditors were circling. Any rational investor would steer clear, yet the stock soared. Individual traders piled in, posting rocket emojis on Reddit and sharing screenshots of their gains. The headlines wrote themselves: “Retail investors are back.” “Wall Street is dead.” “Markets are broken.”

Arguments abound that we are witnessing a collapse of collective meaning, that traditional values are gone, and that our old stories no longer apply. Crypto-tokens, meme stocks, and trading that resembles casinos, not long-term investing, are worrying those of us who long for the “good ole days” when values mattered. Neil Howe describes times like these as Fourth Turnings, periods of crisis that shatter old orders and make way for something new, occurring typically every eighty to one hundred years. 
These times and events shape each generation and our collective thought. But what is the problem? Larsen goes on to write, “The breakdown of belief has practical consequences. If people treat markets like a joke, capital misallocates. If young investors expect bailouts and meme rallies, risk goes unpriced. If institutions lose legitimacy, volatility rises, not just in asset prices, but in society itself. And if nothing matters, anything goes. That’s the danger of nihilism. Not just that it’s wrong, but that it invites chaos and tempts people to burn things down.”

Societies have lost their collective meanings and forgotten their traditional values for millennia. When this happens, the old stories never continue to apply. 

Our country has grown astronomically rich over the last seventy-five years. When this wealth is threatened, we fight back viscerally. One way to fight is to devalue the ‘old’ to replace it with the ‘new’ – crypto-currencies, AI, and new trading partners are all a part of the ‘new’ world economic order. 

Should you worry? Not at all, this is normal. Just look at history. 

Besides, you have another choice. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 5, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.”  Throughout the Bible, God’s word shows us that whatever we place the most value in will unravel if our lives are not centrally fixed in Christ. I can speak from experience, if you make wealth in any form, most ultimate in your life, it will become chaotic and destabilizing. 

We are watching the unraveling of ‘old’ world orders making room for ‘new.’ So, as you watch politics, markets, your accounts, and the news in general, please fix your hope in Something other than money – you’ll be glad you did.

Sound Financial Strategies Group (“Sound”) is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Sound’s investment advisory services can be found in its Form ADV Part 2 and/or Form CRS, both of which are available upon request.

The opinions expressed are those of Sound as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice.