“What do you want to be when you grow up?” A new school year will be starting soon for many, but it’s not just children who feel like they have to have answers to the big questions. New clients will on occasion visit our office with apologies ready: they don’t exactly know what they want or what they might need in the future. And that’s okay. Plans and hunches and visions… It’s all welcome.
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Even heroes get knocked down a time or two when fighting their monsters. There may be a couple of bumps in the road, but what good plot doesn’t have some conflict? With our passions in mind, a little bit of perseverance, and a good plan, we all get to be the hero of our own story.
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It might help to think about financial goals like a line of dominoes. Only one domino needs to fall at first, and the momentum will build. We don’t have to do it all at once 🙏
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Your money can work as long as you do—and beyond! But only if we put it to work.
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Friends, it’s been a good many years since any lifestyle magazines could be found in my home. Remember magazines? Glossies?
I was reminded of them recently.
Marketing for financial services is regulated in various ways. Bodies like the SEC work toward protecting investors. Still—advertising for financial advisors sometimes twists the ideas in our minds the way the glossies did and do.
Magazine covers ask the questions that beg the question.
There are assumptions and judgments packed into such questions. They suggest that you have problems, you must address them quickly, and you require assistance from the preapproved authorities. But it’s not only beauty and fashion pros who ask these questions.
I hear the same thing in ads for financial services.
Most folks don’t need any pressure added to their financial relationships. Life’s big changes and hardships bring enough challenge, don’t they?
On the contrary—what a wonderful phrase!—we prefer to share the load. We like taking these journeys with you. We enjoy connecting you to resources you want and not the ones we “prescribe” or insist upon. Partners in the process is what we strive to be.
Clients, we’ll help acquaint you with reality as we see fit, but it will be just one version of things. And you have to live in your reality of things. We’re grateful to be part of it.
Let’s chat, anytime.
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Momentum carries us through many of life’s relationships. Practicing traditions and routines takes all sorts of decisions off our plate. It’s a type of comfortable efficiency. Then, sometimes, a big change occurs—and things shift. We can find ourselves suddenly reconsidering decisions that we used to be able to take for granted.
I’ve seen it unfold in your lives, clients, and certainly in my own. When my wife passed, I discovered that there were aspects of my lifestyle that suited “Mark in a couple” but did not fit in my new life as “Mark on his own.”
Upon the passing of or separation from a partner, some people realize all of a sudden that what used to be a two-kayak household is now a zero-kayak household. And they’re content with that.
It can happen when the home suddenly expands, too: it’s not just the birth of children that can change a household’s makeup. Perhaps that mother-in-law suite becomes literal, or maybe an adult sibling or adult child moves in to help manage things.
No matter how the membership of a household is changing, the new dynamic will most likely bring changes to the financial texture of life for everyone involved.
Although many recommend waiting a year (or some other interval) after a loss or change before making big decisions, there are ways to explore in the meantime. Some people find it helpful to do their own research and talk with trusted friends as they explore options. Some prefer to work on their own personal development for a spell before reviewing their choices.
When your household membership changes, there is no right or wrong way to navigate these issues. Clients, if you’d like to talk through what this may mean for you, we’re game. Please write or call.
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Clients, it’s normal to feel this way: suddenly a change is upon us, and we feel like there’s more to do than we bargained for. For some, it can feel like waking up to a never-ending list.
I’ve heard it from young folks, just starting out. Once they become aware of the state of their finances, it can be both empowering and overwhelming. It starts to seem impossible to accomplish everything that stretches out ahead of them: big purchases like houses or degrees, big goals like travel or retirement, and all the unexpected stuff in between? Daunting.
Other parts of life can prompt a sense of being overwhelmed, too, like the passing of a partner, a big move for a parent. It can feel like there’s no way to do it all.
Things are not as they seem, though. No one can do it all… at once. That’s the key: nobody can do it all at once.
We’ve talked about this idea before in terms of the many hats we wear in life. Perhaps a better way to think of financial goals, in particular, is dominoes: only one domino needs to fall at once, but the momentum means that each one affects the next. Starting the chain reaction takes the most energy. The rest of it builds on itself.
Think about the prelude to most people’s spending and investing goals: the emergency fund. Once you’ve got this resource in place, you move onto the next goal. But you’re not starting all over from scratch for the next goal. It’s the opposite, because now you have a firmer, better foundation to build on. You’re already on your way with more freedom than before!
Meaningful goals compound. They become a resource in themselves.
Clients, what’s next for you? Where does it fit in the big scheme? Reach out, anytime.
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One of the hardest things about major life transitions is that many habits, customs, traditions, and ways of doing things become obsolete or counter-productive at once. It takes time to deal with these cascading effects, big and small, on our lives.
One friend who lost a spouse to a fast-progressing illness had to quickly deal with decades of deferred home maintenance, previously a mutually agreeable way of life. Who had time to fix stuff when leisure pursuits or travel beckoned? It was a difficult situation.
Another had to confront a set of retirement intentions that had everything to do with the couple, but zero to do with the survivor. It was like waking up a few years before retirement, with plans that made no sense at all, and no prior thoughts about alternatives.
And many are forced to learn how to deal with things a spouse formerly handled: everything from oil changes to investment decisions. If the spouse had been a do-it-yourselfer in a particular role, the survivor sometimes has trouble envisioning the need to pay for services. Their life experience taught them that paying for that service is not worth it.
That lesson is incomplete, of course. Paying for the service is not worth it if you have the interest, knowledge and experience to do it yourself. But when the experience and knowledge is taken out of the equation, then the DIY course may be vexing and expensive.
Changing circumstances sometimes require a change in ways of doing things. What was done before made sense for the conditions that prevailed then. It can be hard to recognize the things that have changed. Our affection for those who are gone sometimes leaks into a positive view of their way of doing things, even when those ways may no longer be appropriate.
My own life experience has taught me patience and empathy for survivors who are grappling with these things. Each of us is on our own journey. We each make decisions in our own time, when they make sense to us. All we can do here at 228 Main is listen, provide a framework for thinking about things, and support people going through transitions.
Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.
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