Tooth Fairy and Market Success

By Maureen Crimmins on September 6, 2017 in General

There are many aspects of parenting that are fun and easy and some that are not. I am ashamed to say that Dan and I had a difficulty with an integral part of parenting…..being the tooth fairy!

How can it be that two grown adults cannot remember that their child had lost a tooth and very carefully put it under the pillow for the exciting arrival of the tooth fairy? I mean it wasn’t as if we did not help them with the letter and the specific placement of the tooth once story time was done. Or that we weren’t around for the wiggling and coercing of the loose tooth for the days prior to the big event.

It certainly was a low point of our duties. Pitiful!

In a new survey by Delta Dental, the tooth fairy visited 85 percent of the nation’s household with children in 2016 and in 89 percent of those homes she left money – more than ever before. The tooth fairy’s cash deposit last year averaged an all-time high of $4.66 per visit (a 75 cent increase over 2015)!

It may be hard to believe, but the generosity of the tooth fairy has historically been a good indicator of the direction of the economy and the markets. When the tooth fairy pays more, so did the S&P 500 stock index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 12 of the last 13 years, often by similar percentage totals.

According to the study, in 2016 the tooth fairy paid about $291 million for lost teeth, an increase of 13.5 percent over 2015. Those who have lost their first tooth received an average of $5.72 last year (up about 10% from 2015).

The tooth fairy usually leaves money but on occasion she has left gifts to promote dental health, such as toothpaste and toothbrushes. That’s not nearly as interesting as receiving cash.

And to make Dan and I feel a little bit better about our neglectful tendencies, 56% of homes had the tooth fairy forget to pick up the tooth on the first night. (We always said the tooth fairy must be very busy…..but she won’t forget two nights in a row!!)

Who knew that the tooth fairy had a direct correlation to the economy and therefore the markets!

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Photo by Dave Dugdale

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