life goals

A Lesson at One Chapter’s End
photo shows a stack of books with browned and gilded spines

In one of life’s great ironies, quite a few people pass away around retirement age, a short time before, or just after. Many of us have seen this up close: for me, it started with my father, then my oldest brother, then my wife. All passed away at the age of 62. 

Each had enjoyed life and family, found satisfaction in their work, had travelled some and seen some sights. None planned to be done when they were; all had plans for more.

We’re thinking recently about what could have been… and what could be. This is all about the past and the future. When we focus too much time and attention on those, our capacity to enjoy the present is diminished, the ability to just be. 

There’s a beautiful chaos in today, so staying present is a beautiful way to be. One way I interpret this idea: that we better have a little fun every day. This is the formulation that’s been popular in my home. My late wife Cathy once embroidered it on a small wall decoration. 

With appreciation for the past, and having made plans for the future, we were striving to have some fun every day. 

And I still do.  

The balance between the present and the future is a grounding influence on our work. Our saying “invest wisely, spend well” is all about that idea. Investing wisely is about the future; spending well is about the present. 

If you would like to talk about that balance in your life, or anything else, please email us or call. 

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A Lesson at One Chapter's End – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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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.

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Living on Purpose – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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The Good-Enough Place
photo shows two rocks balancing in opposition on other rocks on a beach

Clients, in our latest round of portfolio reviews, we’ve been getting into the nitty-gritty with many of you. There are changes we’re suggesting, but we’re also doing a fair amount of listening.

Our recent research endeavor into ESG—those investments that meet particular criteria for addressing environmental, social, and (corporate) governance issues—has deepened many of our conversations.

We’ve written about how ESG investing is harmonious with our focus on the long term, and whatever you call these styles, we’re interested: we want our practices to be more sustainable, more consciously capitalist, more socially responsible… You get the picture.

So what are we learning in our efforts to be more intentional? Well, that doing good may mean taking the time to define what “good” is. Every human endeavor comes bearing flaws, but how do we minimize harm and maximize long-lasting good?

The hit show The Good Place keeps coming to mind in these conversations. It’s an exploration of the afterlife, asking some hilarious questions about the meaning of life’s choices.

When things get dicey even for those who are “designing” the afterlife, Ted Danson’s character puts it this way: “Life now is so complicated, it’s impossible for anyone to be good enough… these days just buying a tomato at a grocery store means that you are unwittingly supporting toxic pesticides, exploiting labor, contributing to global warming. Humans think that they’re making one choice, but they’re actually making dozens of choices they don’t even know they’re making.”

Yikes, right? But just like the characters in this show, we’re trying to come at this with a lighter, more human approach. Given the costs of our choices, which do enough good to counter the cost? Which costs can we live with?

Big questions, important topics. Clients—let’s keep talking. When you want to know what this might mean for your portfolio, write or call.

(For a little levity, Maya Rudolph’s character replies to the speech above: “That’s your big revelation? That life is complicated? That’s not a revelation. That’s a divorced woman’s throw pillow.” The show is worth a watch.)

Environmental Social Governance (ESG) investing has certain risks based on the fact that the criteria excludes securities of certain issuers for non-financial reasons and, therefore, investors may forgo some market opportunities and the universe of investments available will be smaller.

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What Are We Going To Do With All This Future?

© Can Stock Photo / rbouwman

It is tempting to think of the future as a place of endless possibilities, fulfilled dreams, unleashed potential. “What are we going to do with all this future?” is the work of Spanish artist Coco Capitan, in collaboration with the Gucci fashion brand. It seems to capture that spirit of possibility.

Our work together with you is about the future. But when you get down to it, saying yes to one goal might mean saying no to others. We cannot do everything.

Resources are finite. As we think about retirement destinations or second home locations, choosing a Rocky Mountain high might mean that finding your beach is out of the question. Relocating may mean less time with family. Retiring at a younger age could mean getting by with less money.

This is why we invest so much time in striving to understand and clarify your priorities.

Of course, creative thinking may let us meet apparently contradictory goals by making thoughtful adjustments. A more modest home in one location may free up money to travel other places, or even have a second home. (This is the strategy I employ to live in Floribraska, Florida and Nebraska.)

Clients have chosen to retire and work at the same time by making the retirement-age job a part-time or seasonal or flexible hours arrangement in a field they enjoy.

Some couples choose to spend weeks each year pursuing different interests. Golf in the sunshine is hard to reconcile with watching grandchildren play winter sports up north.

So your own answer to ‘what we are going to do with all this future’ may take a lot of thought to get your priorities defined. Some creativity or adjustments may be needed to make the most of it. This really is the first step in long term planning.

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

Special Relativity

© Can Stock Photo / Alexis84

A friend wrote to me recently about the two kinds of time. The time that gallops onward in an undistinguished blur, versus the time that resolves itself into perfect crystal moments that stretch on to forever. Haven’t we all had those kind of peak moments?

We seem more prone to the ‘undistinguished blur’ sort of time as the years go by, and routines get set. Perhaps breaking the routine, new experiences, are what sets those forever moments apart.

My friend concluded that if there is a secret to keeping time in a bottle, it must involve moving forward – a special kind of special relativity. This notion has some interesting aspects, including one that bears on our work for you, I believe.

Many financially independent retirees have noted that they spent much time when younger worrying about having enough money in later years. Then, when they get there, they discover that money is abundant, compared to time, which is finite.

If we spend our working years on a treadmill of accumulating a fortune for enjoyment way down the road, perhaps we live life in a routine, in which time is an undistinguished blur. This shortens the subjective experience of our lives.

Alternatively, we can work to understand and perhaps moderate what “enough” means, and balance living in the moment against our longer-term objectives. Would this leave us open to more new experiences, new ways of thinking and being, and that sense of moving forward that might bring about more of those ‘forever’ moments?

Hey, I don’t know either. But I’m in favor of more special moments, and less undistinguished routine. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

Dream or Vision?

© Can Stock Photo / Gautier

Scott McKain has a story about a legendary motivational speaker with whom he had a chance to become acquainted. McKain, a best-selling author, consultant and friend, happened to share breakfast with him at a conference. He learned that this speaker lived his creed: ‘walked his talk’ as they say.

The integrity, confidence, and connectedness exuded by the legend led McKain to conclude this is success: to be who you claim to be, to do what you say you will do, to live the vision.

“Living the dream” is a phrase some use to describe an ideal life (sometimes ironically.) But dreams end when we wake up. A vision is something different. One of the definitions of ‘vision’ is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom. So living the vision is a way transform the future we desire into reality by what we do each day.

Here at 228 Main, we are thinking a lot about how our work for you might be improved in the years ahead. We don’t want to be big, but we do strive to make the very best things possible for you and yours. It is too early to say our vision has evolved and grown – but we are working on it.

We may ask you for input and perspective as we shape these plans. You will hear about the pieces as we figure them out. One thing we already know: having the best clients in the world makes the whole project a worthy endeavor.

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

Navigating Life

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I have never been what they call “an early adopter.” Even at the dawn of the personal computing age, my strategy was to figure out where the leading edge of technology was, and take two steps back. So it may not surprise you to know I am fairly new to the world of smart phone navigation.

The way those systems work reminds me of the way we approach life here at 228 Main:

1. Start where you are.
2. Proceed by way of your plans.
3. Arrive at your dreams.

When the phone maps a route for you, it never says “Gosh! There are a lot of problems where you are. It’s too far to go! Maybe you should wait for a better day to go.” It simply takes your location and starts to make plans.

Once underway, if you get off course, the phone figures out whether it is better to go back the way you came, or take a new route to the same goal. One way or the other, it wants you back on track. It won’t let you go mile after mile the wrong direction.

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do. So one of the basic requirements is knowing your destination.

When we think about our work for you, there are many similarities. We begin by understanding where you are, your starting point. We invest time in learning your goals (or dreams), helping you clarify them if necessary. Where you are, where you want to go: it is about the same as using your phone to navigate.

Then we do the work. Sort out the best path to get you to your dreams. Check in and monitor it to make sure you are still on course. Provide midcourse corrections if needed. And communicate continuously with you.

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

Letters to our Children #4: Create Your Own Adventure

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Narratives, or stories, are how we understand the world and our place in it. They may play a powerful role in helping you form and reach your major aims. For example, my own narrative about working to age 92 has given our enterprise a vitality and dynamism that those coasting toward retirement may lack—among other benefits.

While your story is highly personal and unique, we often see these three patterns:

1. Younger clients are often aiming at building financial security, establishing homes and careers, within the longer term goal of becoming financially independent.
2. Some of our clients are retirees whose narratives involve being a good steward of their wealth, enjoying life by living modestly but well, and aiming at leaving a legacy to succeeding generations.
3. Others are more focused on travel or other things that were not possible during their working years, and having the cash flow to comfortably support those things.

The foundation of your narrative is your core principles, or what you are trying to do with your life. When your story connects with the most fundamental thing about you, it may be more likely to become true. What are the three most important things in your life?

Where and how do you want to live? What role will family play in your activities? How will you spend your time? Will you work at something you enjoy for pleasure in later years? Is entrepreneurship in your future?

You do yourself a big favor when you realize that life is your own adventure. You can create it.

Sometimes your story has to change because life happens. One chapter ends and a new one begins. We are almost never done with new chapters and new stories. Resiliency and adaptability, making the most of what you have to work with, are useful additions to any story.

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