Every once in a while, the schedule gets really and truly full. We might have places to be throughout the day, for many days in a row. Weeks might go on like this, in an exciting blur.
It’s not a bad problem to have, but sometimes, it can feel like we’re being pulled in more than one direction.
Some of you may experience this sensation too, as you also wear multiple hats in life. You may have commitments as a parent, an employee or an owner, a teacher, a partner, a community member, and more.
Here’s an idea that might provide some relief: we may have many hats, but we only wear one hat at a time. It’s okay to allow ourselves to focus on one at a time, even if we must switch hats often.
The same general principle is true about our financial goals: it may seem prudent to save for retirement, and a house, and a child’s education, and all the other things one may want in a lifetime… but the secret is that you don’t pay for these things on the same day, or week, or month, probably.
Having many hats doesn’t mean we can’t focus—and strategize. Time is finite, of course. But we take things one hat at a time.
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We’re inspired by recent conversations with clients and friends whose plans, as they say, have come to fruition.
Fruition—the realization or fulfillment of a plan or project—scarcely begins to describe the satisfaction and joy we’ve seen.
What types of projects?
There’s recent retirees who downsized to a maintenance-free home, going to art festivals instead of pulling weeds, having more dinners with their descendants, and seeing more ball games. There’s the people going on that Alaska cruise or the tour of Italy. There’s the people turning hobbies into true avocations.
These are just some of the plans we’ve seen come to fruition for people we are close to.
A wise person once said that a plan is a dream put into writing. We are in the business of trying to make the arithmetic work for people who would like to try to make their dreams come true. We’ve written before about the best way to retire, and the point is, dreams are personal.
What are you trying to do? Where do you want to wind up?
One of the privileges of long experience in our work is seeing the realization or fulfillment of those plans made long ago. But life sometimes throws curve balls. So we’ve also seen adjustments made by people who would have preferred to avoid the need to adapt. Not everyone we love lives as long as we wished, health may be fleeting, and circumstances often present a mixed bag. Nevertheless, sound plans usually put us in better shape to deal with the unanticipated.
Money is not the most important thing in the world. But it is also true that our resources can buy us options we might otherwise not have. Wealth may free up our time, and time is what life is made of. Dreams and arithmetic working together may make the best things more likely.
If you would like to discuss your dreams and plans in greater detail, please write or call.
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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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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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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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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.
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.
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.
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