intentionality

Designing the Future

Tastes come and go. It’s never bothered me much, as I’d rather sit and watch the fads go by than participate.

Thinking more lately about my home, and its gorgeous mid-century modern style, has me wondering about what makes a style last. I don’t know that anybody’s born with “good taste,” so it must be something in the design that makes the difference, huh?

A sound design—an actual plan—isn’t the same as a touch-up. Anybody can change the drapes or paint a wall. These are surface-level changes. They don’t change the shape of things or how a person might move through this life.

A designer needs to know about the heart of the issues. They might ask…

  • How do you want to use this space?
  • How do you want to feel when using this space?
  • What are your needs now, and what needs do you anticipate?

These questions are sounding familiar. They are fundamental to our conversations about your money and your life!

I’m no designer, but I like the idea that there may be fundamental principles to sound design and to sound financial planning. We collaborate, get the crucial elements on the table, and then get to work.

Maybe I’ve got more style than I thought!

… But maybe I’ll stick to the basics, just to be sure.

Clients, when we need to come back to the plan or think about its design, please write or call.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

Play the audio version of this post below:

Timeless Design – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text can be found 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.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

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/.

Your Safety Net Is Not a Hammock
photo shows a safety net in midair

The advancement of technology has helped humans perform more tasks more safely.

Backup cameras and drift warning systems help curb preventable accidents in our vehicles. Even in our pastimes, technology can monitor more risks and dangers than ever. Big-wave surfers take on, well, bigger waves, prepared with more data about the conditions than ever before… not to mention a jet-ski nearby, ready to help anyone who crashes.

Such monitoring technology may allow us to take on more risk, but this doesn’t mean we ought to. Specifically, this tech becomes dangerous when we let it take over and do our thinking for us too.

Some providers offer tech tools to help “measure” risk tolerance. The tools are, in theory, designed to increase transparency. If we know more about the dangers present, shouldn’t we be able to make better decisions?

For some investors and clients, it’s perfectly comfortable to use such scores to determine the “appropriate” investments. The trouble is that then the tech tool is doing the interpreting, moving from observation to decision.

That middle part—the thinking, the choosing, the deliberation—that’s where we like to focus our energy in this shop.

Many tools may seem like safety nets, keeping us from ever falling too hard, but they should not replace the process.

You may remember The Flying Wallendas, a family that for generations has performed high-wire stunts (one of them crossed the Grand Canyon on live television a few years ago). The family avoids nets when they can.

Why?

The net may make you feel better about the risks involved, but it’s counterproductive—and dangerous—if it leads you to behave with less awareness, intention, and energy.

You must behave as if the risks are always present… And carry on, making the best decisions possible.

Clients, wondering about nets, risk, and more? Let’s chat: call or write anytime.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

Play the audio version of this post below:

Your Safety Net Is Not a Hammock – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

Timeless Design
photo shows paint and material samples arranged on a tabletop

Tastes come and go. It’s never bothered me much, as I’d rather sit and watch the fads go by than participate.

Thinking more lately about my home, and its gorgeous mid-century modern style, has me wondering about what makes a style last. I don’t know that anybody’s born with “good taste,” so it must be something in the design that makes the difference, huh?

A sound design—an actual plan—isn’t the same as a touch-up. Anybody can change the drapes or paint a wall. These are surface-level changes. They don’t change the shape of things or how a person might move through this life.

A designer needs to know about the heart of the issues. They might ask…

  • How do you want to use this space?
  • How do you want to feel when using this space?
  • What are your needs now, and what needs do you anticipate?

These questions are sounding familiar. They are fundamental to our conversations about your money and your life!

I’m no designer, but I like the idea that there may be fundamental principles to sound design and to sound financial planning. We collaborate, get the crucial elements on the table, and then get to work.

Maybe I’ve got more style than I thought!

… But maybe I’ll stick to the basics, just to be sure.

Clients, when we need to come back to the plan or think about its design, please write or call.

Want content like this in your inbox each week? Leave your email here.

Play the audio version of this post below:

Timeless Design – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services