APRIL NEWSLETTER | “Generosity is one of the best antidotes to anxiety”
Hi friends,
As spring blooms here in Portland, we’re prioritizing downtown walks and lunches to help balance the noisy news cycles. Georgia has been sharing thoughts in the press about navigating our collective financial anxiety alongside recent systemic inequality (links below).
We know our 2026 work is to resist our natural negativity bias, to look at the present with clear eyes, and to continue posing open-ended questions to ourselves, our clients, and our community about what a different world could look like and how we could get there, together.
In solidarity,
Team Modernist
INVESTING INSIGHTS
In our Spring 2026 Investment Commentary, we share an update on the markets and a reminder about how markets have fared in previous geopolitical crises. Let this data encourage you to act on what you can control: take a break from the news, get outside, hang out with someone you love.
In a new video, our Investment Committee examines the recent outperformance of international stocks and what is driving that shift away from US stocks. As always, we’re here to remind you: diversification matters.
structure your wealth around your values:
In a new Portland Business Journal article (no paywall!) on strategic giving, Georgia shares how leaving assets to charity can unwind a lot of the wealth inequality issues that are inherent in how estate taxes work in America.
When asked about maintaining control through Donor Advised Funds, she notes: “Why do you want to retain control, and what is the intention of control? And why are we seeking it? Trust-based philanthropy (an approach that relies on collaboration between funders and nonprofits) is often the answer to…donors wanting control over their donations.”
Follow the work of Phīla and Yield Giving, two orgs leading the way in rethinking how we could show up in philanthropy.
FROM THE TEAM
As a business, supporting cultural orgs is a responsibility, not a marketing to-do. So we’re thrilled to help bring Oregon Humanities’ Consider This conversation with poet and novelist Naomi Shihab Nye on June 18 to the Alberta Rose Theatre.
Part of their Beyond 250 series, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and inviting us to think, along with our brightest minds, about how the next 250 years could look.
Modernist Takes It Outside
“Generosity is one of the best antidotes to anxiety.” ♥️
For a new article in The Cut about collective financial anxiety, Charlotte Cowles tapped Georgia to share thoughts on taking care of your money and your neighbors, especially with 47's historic defunding of America’s social safety net.
FUND YOUR HEROES
In the spirit of Plenty & Enough, let’s fix what we already have! Repair PDX has been organizing “repair cafés” for 10+ years, helping folks fix broken household items for free.
Inspired by a practice in the Netherlands, this volunteer-run organization holds events about once a month all across the Portland metro area. Find one near you!
Another critical piece of Estate Planning is considering changing needs in our homes as we grow older.
We’re big fans of Kelly Nesbitt’s company Adaptable Abodes; they help people navigate aging transitions by providing Occupational Therapy-led home design and accessibility consulting. Plus, Kelly’s an artist, performer, professional clown, and delightfully bright human.
art break
We’ve been reading Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Famous” to clients to center our work for the year. Give it a listen via this beautiful video from the Poetry Foundation. Be like the buttonhole!
a song That’s Really About spring
On an album about spiritual rebirth (hello spring!) and mysticism, the title track of Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks” is bringing some sunshine and delight to the office here at HQ.
There you go, there you go / Standin' in the sun darlin‘
With your arms behind you / And your eyes before