Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.
Month: March 2021
Keeping Up with the Joneses’ Retirement Plan
Half our staff here at 228Main.com is under 40 years of age, and as you may realize, I’m… not 40.
And I plan to work to 92.
Suffice to say, my “retirement” plan won’t be the right model for everyone. But that doesn’t mean these younger staffers—and many clients their age—aren’t working on their own plans and planning.
A client’s age or generation matter to a certain extent in our line of work. What we’ve noticed, however, is that the most important part is how each person relates to their age.
Think about my goals again. Of course my age is a factor in my planning, but my intention to continue working changes things more. If I were only working for 2 more years, my strategy would require a totally different gear than my plan to earn an income for 20 more years!
Clients, I don’t mean to suggest you need to know your retirement date now—or even have an exact vision of your retirement lifestyle. In fact, what I want to suggest is that it’s okay if it feels like you’re saving for a fuzzy future self.
“But how do I know whether I’m track? I should’ve started years ago, right?” We’ve heard this before.
No guarantees, but if you’ve made it into a conversation where you’re asking someone you trust this question, you’re on your way. From here, it’s about working toward your goals. How your parents retired, how the plan goes in a chart in a pamphlet that gets stuffed into your hand… if you compare your plan to those examples, they can add more anxiety than applicability.
Reframe. Retirement planning is about your goals, your timeline, your lifestyle. No external marker.
Feeling behind? Arianna Huffington calls this sense of a ticking clock being in a “time famine,” a state where “your feeling is that it must be later than you think it is.” Feeling starved for time to do what you need to do is no foundation for a strong plan.
“Yeah but how will I…”
Ooh, good question! That’s where we come in, and we’d be honored to help you shape this vision. Reach out when you’re ready.
Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.
Wintering
Winter here is a demanding season—and not everyone appreciates the discipline.
— Parker Palmer
We talk plenty about seasons and cycles here at 228Main.com. There are useful lessons even in the most frigid of winters, literal or figurative.
As I write this, our part of the world in southeast Nebraska is experiencing negative temperatures. The roadsides are lined with mountains of snow that have risen across the last few weeks.
It’s hard to find the deeper meaning when even your boogers feel frozen.
Teacher and author Parker Palmer writes about the seasons in this part of the country, like the stillness and clarity many Midwesterners can find in a snowy field. And, he explains, “Despite all appearances, of course, nature is not dead in winter—it has gone underground to renew itself and prepare for spring.”
We spend our money differently in this season, but these needs will make way for a new focus in a few months. We keep our eyes open for the turn as challenges in certain industries give way to new opportunities.
And as the circumstances may make it difficult to spend our time and resources exactly as we’d like to, we’ve still got one final gift of winter. It’s “the reminder that times of dormancy and deep rest are essential to all living things.”
Clients, if you want to talk about your winter or the coming spring, please write or call.
Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.
To Buy or Not To Buy? [video]
Big Chance and No Chance
We’ve written before about how the stock market is not a casino, and in light of recent remarkable events, other professionals are reminding the public too.
What had been a $4 stock recently ran up to over $400. Although we heard a hundred different ideas about what the episode meant, we can almost certainly understand that no, the company did not actually become a hundred times more valuable.
We do not know the future, so I can’t tell you that buying after it made headlines is going to turn out poorly, but (in my opinion) you’d have far better odds at an actual casino.
Let’s think about that for a second. Have you ever put a little money on something that had the chance to turn out really big? A long shot at the race track, a chance on a huge lottery payout, or stock in a company that might make a lot of money if it doesn’t go broke?
Our business in here is sound investing, not gambling or speculating, though I myself have considered the odds and laid my money down a time or two.
But this recent example buzzing in the news isn’t like that. It’s one of these situations where lots of people get caught up in something that has the same practical meaning as flushing money down the toilet.
It would be better to invest wisely, spend well, and plan for the long haul. For some, chasing those big chances can be fun in moderation. But we don’t advise it become a daily activity.
Jumping into something with even worse odds than those big chances? We wouldn’t count on anything longer than a long shot.
Clients, when you have questions or concerns, please reach out.
Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.