Florida

Choosing the Slow Way, Or, See Ya Soon?
photo shows a sunset on a beach in Pinellas County, Florida

I recently drove to a business conference in Florida, more than 1,500 miles from home. It would have been much faster and cheaper to fly. But saving time and money were not on my list of objectives.

In fact, it took six days to get there. There were visits with clients along the way—sharing meals at their favorite restaurants, talking and laughing and commiserating about life and world events and markets and more.

As we learned more about each other’s plans for the future, a wide range of topics emerged. We talked about Social Security choices, long-term investing in perilous times, how to pay for increasing expenses in retirement, the snowbirding life, downsizing homes.

These weren’t theoretical discussions, either. These are real people living their real lives, making real decisions. It was affirming for me to be greeted so warmly, and to experience “IRL” just how our work has helped people with their plans and planning.

The trip was a roaring success by the measures I care about: happiness, gratitude given and received. (And I wrote this reflection even before the conference started!)

Two lessons so far:

  • It really is the journey, not the destination, as they say.
  • And there is nothing like being there.

We’ve all done a lot of phone calls and email exchanges and Zoom conferences over the past couple of years, but human contact does a very different job for our souls.

Then next, I had a few days at the conference, and then the journey home—the long way, of course, with many more stops. With the team we have to keep things running smoothly at 228 Main, I’m thinking more travel is in my future. I may be seeing many more of you in the months and years ahead.

In the meantime, when we can help in any way, please email us or call.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Choosing the Slow Way, Or, See Ya Soon? – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

Louisville, My Home Sweet Home

canstockphoto21104339

Planning to work to age 92 has a side effect: there is no date any time soon after which I can do what I want. Cathy and I knew this. A decade ago we figured out that we needed to have some fun along the way. That’s how the whole snowbird plan got started.

Snowbirds are people who go south for part or all of the winter, migrating north to their homes in the spring. We began doing that in 2010, for a few winter months. It was the best of both worlds. We had our home in Nebraska to enjoy most of the year, close to friends and family, and a place to get some weeks of warmth in the dead of winter.

A couple years after we began this, Cathy’s health went south. She was diagnosed with a slew of pretty awful lung conditions. We were able to continue our snowbird routine. Her rising need for oxygen eventually made flying impossible, so we simply drove back and forth.

Three years ago, things got to where long road trips were no longer possible. She had to choose where to live. The specialists who saved her life and continued to treat her are in the south. And Nebraska winter weather could be fatal in a power outage or a stalled car. Staying in the south became a matter of medical necessity for Cathy.

At the same time, health insurance paid the bills for stuff that kept Cathy alive. My small group policy required me to maintain Nebraska residency. And I needed to be in the shop at 228 Main Street for a bit every month. (Our work for you helped Cathy, because it’s expensive to be sick.) I became a long-range commuter. Cathy could remain in the warmth and I could keep the business end going.

Cathy got extra years of life with the help of Florida weather and Florida doctors—important years, in which children got married and grandbabies were born. With her passing, I can focus again on life in Louisville, my home. I’ll be selling Cathy’s Florida house – it’s too much, and in the wrong place.

We have come full circle, back to the original situation. I’m going to work to age 92, so I need to figure out how to have some fun along the way. Bottom line, I’ll be spending much more time at home in Louisville.

Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.