portfolio management

It’s Never Too Early, and It’s Never Too Late

Quite a bit of the news around retirement research focuses on shortfalls. How many of us have heard a headline lately about how many people aren’t saving enough for retirement or aren’t hitting their retirement goals? 

It can sound bleak. But when you get into the numbers, things are a little more nuanced. (Examples: people sometimes overestimate what they think they’ll need, and even when they “fall short,” people tend to make do with however much they do end up with.) 

According to survey findings from Allspring Global Investments, most retirees agreed that they were glad they had started preparing for retirement when they had… but most retirees also wished that they had started earlier. Turns out humans are a tricky bunch to satisfy! 

Retirement is such a huge topic, and our emotions around it can affect how willing we are to take a closer look at our situation. We don’t need to let fear call the shots, however. Avoidance is a survival skill, not a “thrival” skill. 

“Being clueless about money is no longer affordable,” writes Kate Levinson in her book Emotional Currency. (Ouch, right?) But Levinson points out that this challenge is also an opportunity: any day is a great day to get started. 

Not only is it never too early to get started, it’s also never too late to get started. Ever ripped off a Bandaid or taken a flying leap into the deep end? Ever opened that email or that bill you were dreading? 

Ever crossed a finish line after you thought it would be impossible to even get started? In the face of the unknown, it’s easy to let fear tell us stories about how hard things will be. We don’t have to accept the first story our fear tells us. 

Instead, let’s let the journey be as pleasurable as it can be. We can embrace this very moment as the best possible one to take the next step. It’s never black-and-white. Sure, maybe we could’ve started yesterday, and after all, there’s always tomorrow. 

But it’s also really nice to be here with you, today. Call or email us, any time. 

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Play the audio version of this post below:

It’s Never Too Early, and It’s Never Too Late – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

So, What’s Included? The Value of a Research Team 

Clients, since becoming an SEC-facing Registered Investment Advisor, we’ve been bulking up our in-house processes. There’s more documentation, but there’s also more intentionality: we have to know what we’re doing and why.

You’ve probably heard it before, but we often talk about our work in terms of three key activities. The first, of course, is the work we do with you. We meet, we talk, and you let us get to know the story of you. The other two are investment research and portfolio management. With the increasing wealth you’ve brought to us, these activities are more important than ever.

So what’s included in that work? Here are some of the things we like to think about (which means you don’t have to!).

Trying to discern which daily or weekly or monthly events are most relevant to the long run. Not all “market moves” are created equal. Movement can come from investors’ expectations for and reactions to even the littlest of day-to-day events. How do we recognize which will matter in the next year, five years, or fifty years? We try to learn from history; we try to understand where things might be headed next. (And, spoiler alert, our choices are rarely driven by knee-jerk reactions or TV news). We do our best to bring some perspective to our choices.

Managing the players in our investment universe. Companies come and go. They can split. They can consolidate. Some industries are seasonal or cyclical; some do better in tough times, and some boom when others do. Part of our work is keeping an eye on the wider investment universe as well as our active lists. We’re always monitoring some number of prospective players who haven’t quite made the cut, watching for the moment they might reach bargain status. Doing our own analysis is crucial before a holding gets promoted to the Buy List, and even then, we’re always reviewing our criteria as a team as each holding’s story continues to unfold.

Finding and following patterns and changes in our everyday lives. Investing, for us, is not about what’s happening in boardrooms around the world. It’s more about what’s happening in our backyard—and yours! “Your money, your life” is about how you choose to save and spend your resources but also about connecting your money to the real life you lead. What does it mean to own a piece of the action? Well, it means that we pay attention to what we’re seeing in our real lives today and try to imagine the advances and opportunities of tomorrow. Here’s a taste of the research questions we’ve been asking in recent years:

  • How is the pandemic affecting retail? What’s the future of delivery look like? What sort of shopping experiences will people come to expect? How do technology, consumer behavior, and the supply chain affect each other?
  • What’s happening in the energy revolution? How are energy sources changing? What materials and services will be necessary in the next chapter? How will renewable resources continue to change everyday life? How will the evolution of the automobile continue to unfold?
  • How are devices shaping our work, schools, and homes? As demand grows for semiconductors and screens, who may be positioned to meet that demand? Which companies may benefit from the changing technological landscape?

There are, of course, other pieces that are just part of the research process. We try to practice good humor and compassion, to sprinkle in some folksy metaphors—and to bring our enthusiasm!

And while there’s no sense in trying to put a value on any of the individual line items discussed here, we do think they’re worth mentioning. We love to work hard for you, and with you.

Thank you for joining us. Reach out, anytime.

Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

So What's Included? The Value of a Research Team – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

Where Does the Treasure Map Lead?

We believe in saving for the future, but the present is where we live. Your retirement flow might go toward any mix of spending: cash for bills, a stash for unexpected events, or maybe it’s for that adventure in the Florida Keys! None of it takes a pile of money: instead, we tend the orchard for the fruit crop.

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Spend Well

The object of our work can be distilled into four words. Half of them have nothing to do with saving more, investing more, or putting off pleasure today in order to have more wealth tomorrow.

Invest wisely, spend well.

We’ve seen the dreary advice, no matter how much you are saving, to always be saving more. Some of you have told us about “advisors” who discouraged withdrawals from investments for any purpose, no matter how worthy.

What’s the point? As one of our clients recently told me, “I’m not living my life to make my kids rich.”

Invest wisely, spend well. We each know what spending well means in our own lives. But the reminder is that we’re not investing wisely in order to have: we invest to be able to do or be something different, to work differently or live differently.

These two facets of our work interact with each other. If we invest wisely and thereby increase our investment returns, we do not need to put away as much money each month in order to reach a sense of financial security “some day.” So investing wisely may give us more flexibility to spend well, even during our so-called wealth-building years.

Some advisors start with your pre-existing attitudes about “the market” and serve you up a lower-performing portfolio if you come in with any fears about volatility. We, instead, strive to work with people who were either born with great investing instincts or can be trained in them—in how to invest effectively for the long run. We believe this means, hopefully, obtaining higher returns by enduring the wiggles of the market, not pandering to fear of volatility.

This is what we do at 228 Main.

It’s not for everyone.

But if you can “invest wisely,” you may have more money to “spend well”—both now and in the future.

Invest wisely, spend well. Clients, if you would like to talk about the balance of these concepts in your life, email us or call.

Investing involves risk including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Spend Well – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

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

Have Your Cake, Eat Your Cake
They say you can’t have you cake and eat it, too… but what if your cake had the potential to grow over time? Who says you can’t snack when you’re hungry and still save some for later?

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Research, Behind the Scenes!

Clients, this week we’ve got a little behind the scenes tour: what happens in our in-house research process?

Here are some of the things we like to think about (so that you don’t have to!).

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Getting to the Good-Enough Place
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Clients, in each round of portfolio reviews, we have a chance to get into the nitty-gritty with many of you. There are changes we suggest, but we also do a fair amount of listening. We’re shaping the future together, after all.

We’ve enjoyed our research in sectors like renewable energy, efficient energy systems, and more sustainable forms of transportation. These areas continue to grow all the time, and it’s been an interesting challenge to find the best opportunities among the players. Some of these developments hold promise for making the most of modern life here on earth while respecting our finite resources and limits.

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

But it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition. Businesses are human endeavors—perfectly imperfect entities with a variety of goals, costs, and tradeoffs. So how do we minimize harm and maximize long-lasting good?

Maybe you’ve seen the sitcom The Good Place, but this Ted Danson and Kristen Bell show keeps coming to mind in these conversations. It’s an exploration of the afterlife, and believe it or not, it asks some hilarious questions about the meaning of life’s choices. How do they add up? Who has earned a spot in “the good place”?

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.” He’s trying to point out that life in the 21st century is so interconnected that even the most mundane choices are tied up with consequences that cross the globe! “Humans think that they’re making one choice,” he says, “but they’re actually making dozens of choices they don’t even know they’re making.”

Put that way, it can seem overwhelming. There could be an existential crisis lurking in every grocery store aisle!

But, just like the characters in the show, we’re trying to come at this with a lighter, more gentle approach. What the characters come to realize is that given the costs of our choices, which do enough good that we can live with the costs?

Where can we be of service?

How might we try, fail, and then try better?

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

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Play the audio version of this post below:

Getting to the Good-Enough Place – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://228main.com/2023/07/05/getting-to-the-good-enough-place/ .

We the Imperfect People

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…”

So reads the Preamble to the Constitution, which frames the purpose of one of our nation’s fundamental documents.

The authors didn’t necessarily mean the plan was flawless. We’re not constitutional scholars, but a quick search will reveal that the word “perfect”—at that time, used like that—probably meant something more like “complete,” “confident,” or “whole.”

Today, the Fourth of July still commemorates something like this, the idea of coming together. In many communities, the young and young at heart gather outside to play with sparklers or in sprinklers. We might remember eating a slightly burnt hotdog a parent made us or huddling together to watch fireworks light up the horizon.

Scenes like this may very well drum up feelings of unity. While some may feel this same sense of pride for the ideals of this country all year round, some may be more apprehensive. We know that at the mere mention of politics, tensions can start to build. Sometimes it can feel as if, anywhere we turn, we’re being asked to choose sides and being pitted against each other.

How can we find common ground in such a divided union?

Each party, whether we’re talking political party or neighborhood block party, is made up of the same thing: people. Each party is made up of parents and children, students and teachers, doctors and delivery drivers. You get the idea. We are people who are probably after similar things. Aren’t most of us seeking to live happy, fulfilled lives? Wouldn’t most of us prefer a safe and stable environment to thrive in?

We all want a chance at a bright future.

When there is political tension or big political change on the way, it’s not uncommon for clients to start wondering how to make their portfolios “politics-proof.” Anxiety is a normal response to change, but a look back at history can remind us that the outlook in this country is generally okay following each major political shift. Not “perfect” results or glorious returns—but generally okay.

The dust from elections and major events does eventually settle. And we keep at it. We are all here, hard at work, in the name of improving this grand experiment, together. The beautiful thing about democracy is that it is always evolving.

The words written by white-haired men almost 250 years ago described a world that has grown, evolved, and developed in ways they could never have foreseen. The Constitution may end with a period, but you better believe the story of this country is one we’re always writing. There is always going to be room for improvement, and we can do it together.

The markets will be closed for this Fourth of July, and we’ll be taking a little break along with many of our fellow Americans. We wish everyone the best. May we all be surrounded by good food, great company, and diverse experiences. Life is richer when we share what we have.

What in your life can we help you celebrate? Call or email if you would like to chat, anytime.

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Play the audio version of this post below:

We the Imperfect People – 228Main.com Presents: The Best of Leibman Financial Services

This text is available at https://228main.com/2023/07/04/we-the-imperfect-people/.

Putting on Our “Listening Ears”

Listening to one another is a gift that costs nothing but means everything. We know that our time and attention are precious resources, which is why our team here at 228 Main always has our “listening ears” on🙏

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Oh, the Prossibilities!
The human brain is amazing… except when it isn’t. How else do you think the world ended up with a Shark Week?! Low-probability events, fear, fixation, and how to clear things up—in this video.

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