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Month: August 2021
DIY, DIFM, or In-Between
In many industries, people distinguish between DIY and DIFM: “do-it-yourself” versus “do-it-for-me.” The same is true of investing and financial planning.
Whether you are trying to build a deck or a retirement portfolio, the internet is full of pertinent information to help you on your way. You may not be a carpenter, but you may have the tools and skills to build a deck. Add some information, time, and motivation, perhaps that new deck will appear in your backyard through your own efforts.
A successful DIYer has all of those things. It does not always work out, but when it does, someone has used their own skills and efforts to do something many others pay for.
When the do-it-for-me or DIFM route works out, people trade money for the time and abilities of professionals in order to get what they want and need. I’ve mentioned before that I mow my lawn with a checkbook—a textbook case of DIFM.
When it comes to plans and financial planning, we believe that is either a DIY thing—you are the expert on your plans and planning—or a collaborative process of discovery. We may support your efforts, help you define or refine what you’re trying to do, maybe do some arithmetic, but you are still the expert.
On the investment front, though, we operate on a DIFM basis. We strive to grow the buckets: we research investments and manage portfolios for those who do not want to go the do-it-yourself route. DIYers have plenty of resources available other places; we’re busy trying to grow the buckets for those who say “do it for me.”
(Of course, our perspectives on everything from planning to investing are available online 24/7 to anyone with an interest in reading our blogs, listening to the podcasts, or watching the videos. There are some DIYers who check in regularly there. But our one-to-one efforts all go to investment services on a DIFM basis.)
Anybody could be a DIYer, in any number of areas… but it doesn’t mean you have to DIY. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.
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DIY, DIFM, or In-Between? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
Our Schedule Is Your Schedule
The best clients in the whole world rarely disappoint. We’ve built trust together across decades of conversations, in some cases. Newer faces have gotten to know me and my work, online or through friends and relatives.
But there are certain things that just break my heart to hear from you.
“I know you’re busy…”
“Mark, I’m so sorry to bother you…”
“I don’t want to take your time…”
Ouch. I can feel the pain even as I type those words! Let me set the record straight.
Sure, I’m busy. If there were three of me, we’d all be busy. But I choose to direct my time toward your business: your plans, your goals, and our discussions about all of the above!
One of my staff members once told me it wasn’t possible for me to waste their time, because there’s no way they would allow that! If I were in danger of wasting their time, they would tell me. (We’re all adults here, right?)
Clients, you can trust me to be direct about my schedule and my priorities. And my goodness, you are the reason I’m here. I’ve got a whole team to help me with the details, so I get to spend more of my time doing more of what I love: my day job.
My time is your time is our time. When you’re ready, reach out.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
Our Schedule Is Your Schedule – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
You Could Be Home Right Now
Old Guys, New Chapters?
Friends, I’ve been struck by the number of widowers in my circle—and saddened by the number who have joined this club recently. Although we learn early that mortality is universal, we each travel quite personal, individual journeys through these transitions.
I’m noticing, however, that there are things that seem to come up often as I talk with those of you who are in this spot. I may be more aware of them because of my own experiences in the two years since Cathy’s passing. Let me talk through some of these issues.
A change in goals. We may embrace major life goals as a part of a couple that suddenly do not fit our new status. One person shared with me that what had been the couple’s “forever home” was not a good fit for a single retiree; renting a small place made more sense for this individual.
Another person told me their big retirement idea—to move to a warmer place where the spouse had connections—was not going to work anymore.
In my case, the dream home we bought to make Cathy’s last years better did not make sense for me anymore (although it took me more than a year to realize this). My overall vision was changing.
A change in spending. As a result of these changing goals and plans, often household spending decreases. The survivor requires less in the way of financial resources, so legacy issues may become more prominent: assets from one chapter turn into a surplus in the next. Some of you have elected to help adult children with major purchases that made their lives better; others clarified the details of their legacy planning.
A change in retirement plans. Our status can affect our vision for retirement, too. Retirement dates might change for some. One client shared his plan to sell his home and retire early, live in a motor home, and do more traveling. Another told me he was going to ‘’unretire” and go back to work for a while. He said the days were not easy to get through without more to do.
To each their own, of course. Those of us in new—sometimes unexpected—chapters face changes and challenges. It often takes time to sort out which next steps make sense. Please know I’m here for whatever conversations or perspectives might be helpful. We know life is filled with joy and pain. I can handle connecting with your story even as you are navigating painful transitions.
Please email me or call if you would like to talk.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
Old Guys, New Chapters? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
Where Risk-Mitigation Misses Its Mark
Did you catch any of the Olympics? With so many stunning performances, we’ve got competition on the brain. The human mind is a funny thing, though: sometimes we’re so keen on not losing, we don’t notice when we’re getting in the way of our own wins.
We don’t want to risk wasting our chance. It happens to people when it comes to investment decisions, too. The Financial Times recently put it this way:
“Think of your life like an archer releasing just one single arrow at a target. Naturally, you want to make your one shot at life a good one—to hit your bullseye—and this is why you mitigate your risks: to improve your precision (or the tightness of the grouping of your potential arrows) as well as your accuracy (or the closeness of that potential grouping to your bullseye).”
Let’s break that down. We very much want to hit that bullseye, so we will do what we can to get rid of the wild shots: through practice and experience, we realize they are the most painful and obvious problems, right?
The Times continues, however, that we often end up “improving precision (removing our bad potential arrows) at the expense of accuracy.” When we control for a more limited, consistent potential performance, we may be sacrificing our proximity to the target.
The price of so-called safety is often hidden and certainly too high. Mitigation tools can omit “the great shots that could have been” for the sake of reducing “the bad shots.”
To a degree, it’s understandable: the bad shots can be so noticeable, of course reasonable people want to avoid them! Those missed shots, on the other hand, will never be as obvious, so who’s to say they hurt that much?
But long-term investors do know the costs. A few opportunities here and there, over a long stretch, can add up.
And we want to help you work what you’ve got.
Clients, need to talk about the shots we’re taking? Write or call, anytime.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision.
Investing involves risk including loss of principal.
No strategy assures success or protects against loss.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
Where Risk Mitigation Misses Its Mark – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
Get It While It’s Fresh!
Money Two Ways: Balances and Flows
There are two ways to think about money. It helps to understand both if you want to be comfortable financially.
Balances. Balances are what we have: the number on our investment statement or bank account, our 401(k) value, or what our Roth IRA is worth. Some think a certain total is required in order to retire, to be financially independent, or to meet some other goal.
Flows. Flows are the income and the outgo, month by month or year after year. These include recurring items like paychecks or Social Security coming in, travel expenses or utilities going out.
While these terms certainly work, one of our favorite analogies is the orchard and the fruit crop. The orchard is like the balance; it’s what we own. The fruit crop is the flow. We like to say that if the fruit crop is big enough to live on, we don’t need to worry what the neighbor would pay us for the orchard.
What does this mean? That once we’re ready for retirement, for instance, we pay more attention to flows than balances.
So if Social Security and a pension more than meet your cash flow needs in retirement—if the flows run a surplus—you might feel comfortable financially even without a fortune in balances. On the other hand, if you spend more than what’s is coming in, you may feel financially stressed no matter what your balances are.
One of the key elements of our work for you is turning balances into flows. We think about the size of our retirement accounts all throughout our working careers. But in planning for retirement, we like to figure out how much cash flow can come out of those retirement balances. In other words, how big of a fruit crop could your orchard deliver?
Clients, if you would like to talk about your balances, flows, orchard, or fruit crop, please email us or call.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. To determine which strategies or investments may be suitable for you, consult the appropriate qualified professional prior to making a decision.
Investing involves risk including loss of principal.
Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.
Play the audio version of this post below:
Money Two Ways: Balances and Flows – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
Big Trust
Many of you know I prefer my exercise in the form of a long morning walk. These constitutionals have become routine as I’ve settled into this chapter of my life here in beautiful Louisville. I have my favorite paths, and the steps have become familiar.
Familiarity is a comfort, in many arenas. People sometimes feel uneasiness in their financial planning, bringing big fears and big feelings to money. And it’s not just those 20-somethings starting out in their careers or with young families or during big moves.
Each new chapter of life can bring unique financial challenges, so even the most familiar paths can seem to shift on us as we go.
I’ve thought about this in terms of my physical wellbeing, too. I have family members who prefer to hop on a bicycle for hours on end, some who hike in the mountains at every opportunity. Those paths seem foreign to me, an avid small-town walking enthusiast.
But then again, I haven’t tried them.
Clients, many of our conversations revolve around imagining new paths forward. It can be thrilling or frightening, joyful or bittersweet. But new paths aren’t about knowing exactly how to get where you’re going. A clear sense of where you’re headed will suffice. The rest is an adventure of details, one step at a time.
None of this is to say we must “conquer” our fear or anything like that. It’s nearly the opposite of that: it’s seeing the fear and choosing to let it ride along—because the trust is bigger than the fear.
Trust that Future You will be able to ride with the feelings as they pop up. You don’t have to know exactly what’s coming: if you believe in your goals and trust your ability to handle the journey, that’s enough to get it started.
Clients, where to next? Write or call, anytime.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
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