The Life Value of Time
October 2026 Letter to Our Clients
“Money was not what motivated me. I wanted to do good. I wanted to make a living doing this… I figured that if I was good at my job, I’d make the money.”
— Dolly Parton
In the summer of 1988, 6 actresses arrived in Natchitoches, Louisiana, to film Steel Magnolias. Among them were Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Julia Roberts, and Dolly Parton.
It was the middle of summer. The air was heavy, everyone was hot, and Julia remembered people putting ice on their wrists to cool down. Dolly was wearing a wig and wool, yet she sat rocking, smiling, and quietly humming a hymn.
Eventually, Julia asked Dolly to admit she was hot. Dolly replied, “I wanted to be famous, and I wanted to be rich, and now I’m both those things. I’m not going to complain about it.”
I’ve been thinking about that answer since Dolly passed away in August. She wanted a big life, and she worked hard to build one. Sitting there in that miserable heat, she could still recognize it as the life she had once hoped for.
I truly admire that. I entered the field of wealth management hungry for success and riches myself. Money matters, and I’ve never found it helpful to pretend otherwise, but the goalpost has a funny way of moving. It is to easy to reach a number that once seemed extraordinary but then get used to it and set your sights on the next one.
Dolly found a great use for her success that was close to home. She was one of 12 children growing up in a small cabin in East Tennessee. She said her father, Robert Lee Parton, was one of the smartest people she knew, but he had never learned to read. She believed that limited what was possible for him.
In 1995, Dolly started her Imagination Library in her home county. It sent a free book each month to children from birth to age 5. The first order was for just over 1,700 books. Today, the program sends more than 3 million books a month around the world.
Those numbers tell you just how far Dolly’s idea traveled. Fortunately, her father lived long enough to see it begin. Before he died, he told Dolly it was probably the most important thing she had ever done.
I keep coming back to that part of the story. Dolly honored her father while he was still alive to see it, and he had the chance to tell her what it meant to him. Time was part of the gift.
In my line of work, we often talk about the time value of money: what money invested today might make possible years from now. While I believe in that work, I also think about the life value of time, and what money can make possible while we’re around to experience it.
Some of my favorite hours have been spent cooking and enjoying time with friends. Listening to music, drinking a bit of wine, and making a yummy feast together is almost always feels better than eating a meal at a loud, impersonal restaurant.
For someone else, time might be best spent taking a trip with family while everyone can still travel, helping a child at a moment when it changes their options, or supporting a cause while they can still meet the people doing the work. These choices don’t all require great sums, but they do ask us to notice when the moment arrives.
I want to keep planning for the future, though I also want to remember Dolly in that wool costume, fully aware of the life she had made, and I picture her father holding a book that would soon be on its way to a child.
What have you worked hard to make possible that you can enjoy, share, or give today? When it comes to mind, please let me know. I’d love to hear about it.
In Abundance,
Brandon Hatton
CEO, Chief Investment Officer
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October 2026 Letter to Our Clients
“Money was not what motivated me. I wanted to do good. I wanted to make a living doing this… I figured that if I was good at my job, I’d make the money.”
— Dolly Parton
In the summer of 1988, 6 actresses arrived in Natchitoches, Louisiana, to film Steel Magnolias. Among them were Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Daryl Hannah, Julia Roberts, and Dolly Parton.
It was the middle of summer. The air was heavy, everyone was hot, and Julia remembered people putting ice on their wrists to cool down. Dolly was wearing a wig and wool, yet she sat rocking, smiling, and quietly humming a hymn.
Eventually, Julia asked Dolly to admit she was hot. Dolly replied, “I wanted to be famous, and I wanted to be rich, and now I’m both those things. I’m not going to complain about it.”
I’ve been thinking about that answer since Dolly passed away in August. She wanted a big life, and she worked hard to build one. Sitting there in that miserable heat, she could still recognize it as the life she had once hoped for.
I truly admire that. I entered the field of wealth management hungry for success and riches myself. Money matters, and I’ve never found it helpful to pretend otherwise, but the goalpost has a funny way of moving. It is to easy to reach a number that once seemed extraordinary but then get used to it and set your sights on the next one.
Dolly found a great use for her success that was close to home. She was one of 12 children growing up in a small cabin in East Tennessee. She said her father, Robert Lee Parton, was one of the smartest people she knew, but he had never learned to read. She believed that limited what was possible for him.
In 1995, Dolly started her Imagination Library in her home county. It sent a free book each month to children from birth to age 5. The first order was for just over 1,700 books. Today, the program sends more than 3 million books a month around the world.
Those numbers tell you just how far Dolly’s idea traveled. Fortunately, her father lived long enough to see it begin. Before he died, he told Dolly it was probably the most important thing she had ever done.
I keep coming back to that part of the story. Dolly honored her father while he was still alive to see it, and he had the chance to tell her what it meant to him. Time was part of the gift.
In my line of work, we often talk about the time value of money: what money invested today might make possible years from now. While I believe in that work, I also think about the life value of time, and what money can make possible while we’re around to experience it.
Some of my favorite hours have been spent cooking and enjoying time with friends. Listening to music, drinking a bit of wine, and making a yummy feast together is almost always feels better than eating a meal at a loud, impersonal restaurant.
For someone else, time might be best spent taking a trip with family while everyone can still travel, helping a child at a moment when it changes their options, or supporting a cause while they can still meet the people doing the work. These choices don’t all require great sums, but they do ask us to notice when the moment arrives.
I want to keep planning for the future, though I also want to remember Dolly in that wool costume, fully aware of the life she had made, and I picture her father holding a book that would soon be on its way to a child.
What have you worked hard to make possible that you can enjoy, share, or give today? When it comes to mind, please let me know. I’d love to hear about it.
In Abundance,
Brandon Hatton
CEO, Chief Investment Officer
