Month: July 2021

On Not Hulking Out
photo shows a ripple on a lake at sunrise

Forget willpower, forget control. What if the big secret in life was just letting things be?

We were reminded the other day of the classic Marvel character the Hulk. There have been too many versions of this giant green guy to count, but his whole deal comes down to losing his composure. “Hulking out” has come to mean flying off the handle, usually in a rage.

When new acquaintances learn what we do for a living, they wonder how much of our time we spend just sitting with upset or aggravated clients: does every new headline set people off? How do we handle all the turmoil?

Clients, you can imagine how I just smile through these conversations! You know that you’ve come to be the best clients in the world by the way we navigate things together. We know how to put short-term downturns in perspective, how to ride the highs and lows with our eyes on the big picture.

Of course there’s turmoil: so much of life is that way! Why would it shake us?

The Hulk reveals his big secret, how he has harnessed his anger to put it to his own uses (in his case, to fight villains of all sizes). It’s not about taming his anger; it’s about living with it.

“I’m always angry,” he says.

Clients, that’s the ticket right there: things are always a little uncomfortable. And we can choose to accept it as part of the deal.

Want to talk pain, gain, or anything in between? Email or call the shop, anytime.

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On Not Hulking Out – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Does Money Go Stale?
photo shows various jars full of noodles, rice, and other food goods

An old proverb suggests “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” It seems like a great tagline for an action movie, huh? Maybe some adventurers go chasing lost treasure, a tale of bravery and throwing caution to the wind and winning it all!

Okay, so our work isn’t always quite that exciting, but it is thrilling to us. And we believe “nothing ventured, nothing gained” has a story to tell about our financial adventures.

Some of us still know folks who feel best with their money in cash under the (literal!) mattress. We need to know where our cash is coming from, but when we say that, we mean that we need enough liquid resources available to cover what we need to cover in the shortest term. It does not need to come from the mattress, the pantry, or the piggy bank.

It’s more important than that, though. When we leave money sitting, we are letting its power go to waste. It’s just like letting an ingredient go stale: the flavor and the potential power are gone, and then it has less utility than it had when you first got it.

This is also part of what people mean when they say “avoid leaving money on the table.” You let it sit, you forfeit some of its power. Keeping it close doesn’t necessarily keep it safe. Inflation, time, and other forces will do their work whether your money gets out in the world or not.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained”? It makes a certain sense. No guarantees, but we’re glad to be on this adventure with you.

Clients, when you’re ready to get things in motion, reach out.

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Does Money Go Stale? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at https://www.228Main.com/.

Three Rocks
photo shows river rocks on the ground

I have a yard now that was sadly neglected for years. My ambitions for it are modest. I still cut the grass with a checkbook, but I myself am working in fits and starts to reshape it into something better.

With many trades facing supply disruptions, price spikes, and labor shortages, it seems prudent to defer some projects until things loosen up. So… I have not called in the landscaping company yet.

In the meantime, there is a space that would benefit from a layer of rock. On my daily walk, I am picking one up and bringing it home. Three days into this plan, there are three rocks. They weigh about a pound all together.

The internet suggests I might need a ton of rock for this area—2,000 pounds. If I maintain the current rate of rock accumulation for, say, 300 days per year, it would take me 20 years to get a ton of rock. Twenty years to cover what I need.

I’m struck by three things: how insignificant three rocks seem against the total need, how simple arithmetic shows it could be accomplished over time, and how similar this all is to the challenge of saving money for retirement.

The first month’s deposit in a long-term investing plan might be a tiny fraction of 1% of the eventual sum accumulated over 20 or 30 years. It might feel like three rocks compared to a whole ton!

But simple arithmetic provides some hope.

Clients, if you would like to talk about your own accumulation plans—or start one with a younger relative in mind—please email us or call.

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Three Rocks – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at https://www.228Main.com/.

Reviewing the Essentials: What’s in the Kit?
photo shows a hikers legs and feet moving over rocky mountain terrain

I’m in my line of work to talk all day. I love spending time getting to know you, getting down to the essence of your financial situation. With new clients, it’s a bit like jumping on the train with you and asking, “So where are we headed?”

Clients, you know it takes some trust and some time to get down to the essence of your situation. And the exciting thing is that the essentials can change on us.

“Wait, wait, wait,” you might be wondering, “Aren’t the essentials essential for a reason?” Yes. The fundamentals are always in style… but the circumstances can (and do!) change. And so we revisit our systems, our assumptions, and our resources.

Any seasoned traveler will recognize the ways “the essentials” can shift over time. Taking inventory of first-aid kit, for instance, you notice that some supplies can expire, wear out, or become obsolete as your life and your activities change.

So it goes with the companies we screen, too. As we search for potential investment opportunities, some of our favorite qualities help us identify what resonates with us. But a bargain doesn’t keep its bargain status forever: that label is useful to us, but we actively monitor our holdings as things change.

It’s a dynamic line of work we’re in. There is no “set it and forget it,” really. We’re all about the fundamentals, those values that guide us, but keeping our practice geared on the essentials—and only the essentials—is quite an active process.

And a lot of fun for us, to boot.

Clients, what are we missing? Is it time to take a closer look at something together? Write or call, anytime.

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Reviewing the Essentials: What’s in the Kit? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found at https://www.228Main.com/.

Time Well Spent: How to Create Time Dividends
photo shows a wooden sign on a table that says "Relax"

At 228 Main, we like to think about the many ways one might be rich. The primary task here is to work to grow your buckets, especially those long-term buckets that may serve you across many years.

Many of our clients, however, are also rich in another precious resource: time.

Just as a company may pay dividends to shareholders, the best investors seem to have a knack for finding those investments of time that pay dividends. And paying attention to our time could mean big things for our financial goals and wellbeing, after all.

Take a closer look at a day or a week in your life and how the hours go by. Is there a set place or routine for those things that may seem to eat up “too much time,” like bills or errands or banking or emails?

Activities like these can really frazzle a person, but when we zoom out, a lot them of them shouldn’t come as a surprise. These are everyday, regular activities.

Laura Vanderkam’s book Off the Clock explores our many approaches to the time we have—the skillful and less skillful ways we spend it! She’s got a system for reviewing our time:

“When you do an activity, ask yourself two questions: Will I ever do this again? If so, is there some system I could develop or something I could do now that would make future instances faster or easier?”

The good news is that there are plenty of ways that small interventions—just one little step, now!—can pay time dividends for weeks, months, or years into the future.

Some of our favorites include automatic deductions: monthly payments to take care of any outstanding debt, investment contributions, and retirement contributions. (“Set it and forget it” is a phrase you might hear for this strategy, although we prefer a more mindful approach!)

We are also big fans of quarterly reviews. It’s roughly how often we adjust portfolios, but the passing of the seasons is a wonderful excuse to think about the state of our goals and the bigger vision.

What else can you attach to the schedule? Could you leave yourself notes for things you’d like to review on your birthday, at the new year, before or after tax season, the start or end of an academic year?

A company may divvy up its profits to splash them around to shareholders on a regular basis, but as individuals we too might find those ways to get our time to pay us back later. It just takes a little forethought now.

Clients, want to talk about this or anything else? Call or write, anytime.

Investing includes risks, including fluctuating prices and loss of principal.

Dividend payments are not guaranteed and may be reduced or eliminated at any time by the company.

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Time Well Spent: How To Create Time Dividends – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Got To Do It? Get To Do It!
photo shows a bunch of balloons against a blue sky

Sometimes the business of life feels just like that: business. The business of staying healthy requires an occasional trip to the dentist or a plateful of greens when you’d rather eat something else.

But we’ve noticed a curious thing lately among some financial planner types. One related that a client said their meetings were like going to the dentist. Another compared the task of financial planning to eating your vegetables. Both talked about the planning process as something that is unpleasant, necessary, but good for your long-term welfare.

Our business with you does not feel like that.

Clients, we wouldn’t pretend to speak for you, but we often find both relief and joy in finding order in life’s chaos. It’s a pleasure to come to understand the meaning of your wealth. It seems we all get a little giddy when we check in and confirm you are on track for your long-term goals or can get your investments better aligned with your values.

What a treat!

As time goes by, the product of investment gains is sometimes wealth beyond expectations. (No guarantees, of course.) Reviewing a long history of beginning balances growing over time feels more puppy dogs and rainbows than dental appointments and bitter veggies.

Psychologists say attitudes are contagious. Some people have told me that I myself have a positive outlook. But that probably would not fully explain the difference in the tone and tenor of our meetings, compared to those dental appointment types. Maybe it comes down to these things:

  • We look for a good philosophical fit before we even begin a working relationship.
  • We believe that those not born with good investing instincts can learn.
  • We trust people to be the experts of their objectives and what they want to accomplish.
  • We strive to meet people where they are, to talk about our areas of expertise in only those ways that everyone participating has a grasp of what is going on—and what we are doing about it.
  • We keep our focus on the long term, to increase the chances that people get to their most cherished goals.

People working together, in mutual respect—that’s what we strive to be about. And what a joy it can be.

When you’re ready to collaborate on your plans and planning, email us or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Got To Do It? Get To Do It! – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.

Living on Purpose
photo shows a highway stretching out into a blue sky

Some say the young believe themselves immortal. When our whole lives seem to be ahead of us, it feels like there is plenty of time to do whatever we intend to do.

But we know the mortality rate is 100% in the long run. More than 3 million people died last year in the United States, about 1 person in 100.

And in our experience, many people coming to grips with their own mortality come to believe that life is short—no matter their age.

If it’s true, then how do you fill in the blank? “Life is short, I better ___________.”

In the prior chapter of my life, we filled in the blank with “we better have a little fun every day.” That’s still appropriate in this chapter, but I ponder what else fits in the blank these days.

Interestingly, some things are so basic to our natures they go without saying. A person who is consistently kind and empathetic to others might not think to fill in the blank with “be kind” because it is assumed. So thinking about how you might fill in the blank is another way to be intentional about how you live, to do things on purpose.

Maybe that’s what all this is about. By the end of the road, I’d like to know that I meant the things I did and did the things I meant to.

How about you?

Clients, life is short. How can we serve you—and help you connect your money with your one precious life? Call or email, anytime.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Living on Purpose – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.