We can put a lot of energy into studying the tape, rolling back through our missteps and mistakes. But what about what went right? What do we have going for us?
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growth
Ready or Not: The Seasons Change
When a Hunch Is Good Enough: Invest Wisely, Spend Well (Whenever)
It’s a new school year for so many of our children, grandchildren, and neighbors. Maybe you’ve enjoyed the flood of perennial back-to-school photos. Some families have their children hold up chalkboard signs, to record the details—their new teacher’s name, their favorite color right now, and even what they’d like to be when they grow up.
I can’t help but imagine what surprises are in store for some of these little ones! Who among us could’ve known exactly what form of work would find us in the future? Bike courier, hotel manager, a director of photography who specializes in making food look good in commercials—did any of these folks call their shot as kindergarteners?
It’s an interesting question, and maybe we should keep asking it. What do I want to be when I… reach my next birthday? Or the one five or ten years hence?
What do I want to have in the next chapter of my life?
What doors would I like to keep open?
These might sound like daydreams, but even the hazy hunches of children can be revealing, if not instructive. Sometimes new clients visit our office with apologies ready: they don’t exactly know what their goals are, they don’t know what to ask for, or they can’t begin to imagine what will be possible down the road.
And that’s okay. Just like the question on those little chalkboards, a hunch is good enough. Memoirist Katrina Kenison wonders, “Who knows, really, where dreams begin?” Maybe we’ve been on a certain winding path since we were children. Maybe we discover what we’re about later in life. Maybe our circumstances change, and we get dealt a hand we didn’t imagine we’d ever be playing.
A friend of mine used to tell their children, “This is the plan… until it isn’t.” And that’s life, right?
It’s okay to settle on a general direction, even in your financial life. Growth, an eye on sustainability: these are worthy plans all by themselves. You don’t have to know the destination of every penny. Such a privilege means that you’re buying your future self some options. Resources bring flexibility.
You can always invest wisely, now; the “spend well” part can wait. And what a journey that will be! We’re glad to be here with you.
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Play the audio version of this post below:
When a Hunch Is Good Enough – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
The Plan that Grows with You
Maybe the idea of “the finish line” is overrated. You know about my long-time goal of working until I’m age 92, so this sentiment shouldn’t be a shocker.
But we’re thinking about other ways this idea applies. A lot of investment wisdom suggests finding strategies that work with your current life stage. What milestones are coming up? What are you working toward right now? What can you prepare for? Even in this approach, though, life shouldn’t be treated like a checklist.
It’s definitely a journey—and you can’t plan for all the stops along the way. Our approach has to reflect that reality.
Psychologist Carol Dweck studies motivation and mindset. Her take? If things feel fixed or set in stone, look out: that attitude may be a signal that you’ve shut down in the face of change.
We’re not saying that flip-flopping or changing for its own sake is the way to be, but we can’t grow unless we’re willing to change.
“Opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less,” Dweck explains in her book Mindset. Dweck encourages us to continue to “learn and help learn,” and that’s an idea we can get behind.
You can be a whole person every day you live, but that doesn’t mean your living is ever finished. That’s how we feel about our work, too: a strong financial advisor isn’t a teacher or guide necessarily. An advisor can be a partner on that path. We can map an approach that is complete, robust, and comprehensive—but you better believe that the plan should be able to grow right along with you.
Clients, write or call when you’d like to talk about this, or anything else.
Play the audio version of this post below:
The Plan that Grows with You – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services
This text is available at https://www.228Main.com/.
Winter Is Coming
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.
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COMPLETELY UNFINISHED
Maybe the idea of “the finish line” is overrated. You know about my long-time goal of working until I’m age 92, so this sentiment shouldn’t be a shocker.
But we’re thinking about other ways this idea applies. A lot of investment wisdom suggests finding strategies that work with your current life stage. What milestones are coming up? What are you working toward right now? What can you prepare for? Even in this approach, though, life shouldn’t be treated like a checklist.
It’s definitely a journey—and you can’t plan for all the stops along the way. Our approach has to reflect that reality.
Psychologist Carol Dweck studies motivation and mindset. Her take? If things feel fixed or set in stone, look out: that attitude may be a signal that you’ve shut down in the face of change.
We’re not saying that flip-flopping or changing for its own sake is the way to be, but we can’t grow unless we’re willing to change.
“Opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less,” Dweck explains in her book Mindset. Dweck encourages us to continue to “learn and help learn,” and that’s an idea we can get behind.
You can be a whole person every day you live, but that doesn’t mean your living is ever finished. That’s how we feel about our work, too: a strong financial advisor isn’t a teacher or guide necessarily. An advisor can be a partner on that path. We can map an approach that is complete, robust, and comprehensive—but you better believe that the plan should be able to grow right along with you.
Clients, write or call when you’d like to talk about this, or anything else.
It’s a Whole New Ball Game
Millions of us are living through new experiences. The global pandemic has affected many aspects of daily life. Sportscasters and others have used the expression “It’s a whole new ball game” to describe suddenly changed circumstances.
It seems apt now. The rate of change—and the stakes—in this pandemic can feel overwhelming and disorienting. And yet we wonder…
We humans start out knowing nothing about anything, right? Babyhood was a whole new ball game, along with getting teeth, walking, going to kindergarten, making friends (and enemies), and all the other developments in our lives.
So how is it that we have each managed to adapt and deal with this lifetime of ever-changing circumstances, coped with each and every “whole new ball game”? What lessons are there as we each deal with our current set of changes?
Some of the answers might be found in our own pasts, the things that have taught us perspective. Maybe the answers are in our goals and priorities: they could guide the way through. No matter what we each face now, the overall challenge of change remains.
We might revise the old saying and conclude, “It’s always a whole new ball game.”
Clients, if you’d like to discuss this or anything else, write or call.
Happy Anniversary!
Leibman Financial Services (LFS) was born in August, 1996. It was the culmination of nearly twenty years of prior experience in virtually every aspect of financial services. August 2016 marks the 20th Anniversary of our founding.
While the twenty years before LFS covered a wide range of insurance and banking and investment and benefit products, LFS was intended to focus very tightly on helping people manage their money to get where they wanted to go. This is why we are in business.
And what an incredible twenty years it has been!
- We were fortunate to be aligned with the independent broker-dealer LPL Financial. LPL provides the platform, resources, and expertise we need to provide state-of-the-art services to you.
- We were fortunate to land our facilities at 228 Main in beautiful downtown Louisville. It’s a great place to do business.
- Most of all, we were fortunate to be able to serve so many wonderful people. We are privileged to help with many of life’s most important topics.
A milestone is a natural place to look back and look ahead. We are excited about the future, for a number of reasons:
- The gap between expectations and reality as it unfolds is where investment opportunity lives—and we believe the gap is historically wide right now.
- We have the largest and most capable staff we’ve ever had, to do the work we need to do for you.
- Our range of offerings is expanding to better pursue the diverse needs and circumstances of our clients.
- Our communications program expanded dramatically over the past year, with a complete library of our philosophy and methods at 228Main.com and daily commentary in three ‘New Media’ venues.
- The founder is intent on working to age 92, and feels better than ever about being able to do so.
A heartfelt ‘Thank You’ to everyone. We are looking forward to the years and decades ahead.
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