working for life

Grateful for Wealth in Many Forms

© Can Stock Photo / BVDC

The Thanksgiving season is a natural time to reflect on the things for which we are grateful. We each have our own list, of course—it’s a personal thing. Perhaps there are similarities between your list and mine.

I think of the connections to friends, family, colleagues, and clients. You in these overlapping groups hearten me for life’s challenges, great and small. You strengthen me with the stories of your lives. You make me optimistic about the future, come what may.

I think of being able to make the most of the challenges we’ve been given, in part because of the material blessings we’ve received for our efforts. We have seen up close, the link between prosperity and health.

I think of my work, so enjoyable that I want to do it to age 92. Many people work only until they do not need to, at jobs that will be a joy to retire from. We’re always happy to help you who are in that boat, while being grateful for our situation.

I think of how glorious life is, here in the 21st century. 228 Main has been wonderful as the center of our business universe. And www.228Main.com, just a gleam in my eye at the dawn of the new century, has proven to be more beneficial than we ever dreamed.

Sunshine on my face, wind in my hair, fish jumping, birds fishing, babies laughing, old friends, fond memories and a thousand other things round out my list.

Happy Thanksgiving! Please email us or call if we can make things any better for you.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

 

Grateful for Wealth in Many Forms

© Can Stock Photo / BVDC

The Thanksgiving season is a natural time to reflect on the things for which we are grateful. We each have our own list, of course—it’s a personal thing. Perhaps there are similarities between your list and mine.

I think of the connections to friends, family, colleagues, and clients. You in these overlapping groups hearten me for life’s challenges, great and small. You strengthen me with the stories of your lives. You make me optimistic about the future, come what may.

I think of being able to make the most of the challenges we’ve been given, in part because of the material blessings we’ve received for our efforts. We have seen up close, the link between prosperity and health.

I think of my work, so enjoyable that I want to do it to age 92. Many people work only until they do not need to, at jobs that will be a joy to retire from. We’re always happy to help you who are in that boat, while being grateful for our situation.

I think of how glorious life is, here in the 21st century. 228 Main has been wonderful as the center of our business universe. And www.228Main.com, just a gleam in my eye at the dawn of the new century, has proven to be more beneficial than we ever dreamed.

Sunshine on my face, wind in my hair, fish jumping, birds fishing, babies laughing, old friends, fond memories and a thousand other things round out my list.

Happy Thanksgiving! Please email us or call if we can make things any better for you.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

 

Have You Heard About Unretirement?

© Can Stock Photo / photography33

Retirement is a fascinating topic. New ideas about it seem to pop up regularly.

For nearly all of human history, we worked while we could and stopped only when we couldn’t. The average person had no reasonable chance to accumulate capital on which to live.

But by the middle of the 20th century, things began to change. With Social Security and greater amounts of private savings, most people retired from work at some point. A new lifestyle was born.

Now, anecdotal evidence suggests that some people plan to work as long as they are able—at one thing or another. One client tells us of her plans to do something she enjoys. Another likes working at the state park. Consulting offers some a way to stay engaged, but on a less-active basis, either part-time or seasonal.

We also know people who simply never left their primary occupation after they reached normal retirement age. They enjoy the work and their coworkers, and could not see the point in quitting.

Obviously, this form of “unretirement” is not for everyone. Some go back to school, pick up new or old hobbies, volunteer for causes in which they believe, or spend time helping with family. Travel, reading… the list of things one might do in retirement is limited only by one’s imagination.

Although we each have our own ideas about what retirement means, we all have one thing in common. Our choices will be richer, more varied, and better if we have money. The option to continue working is a better situation than not having a choice because of financial necessity.

Clients, if you want an assessment about the money end of your retirement, please email us or call.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Working Like a Dog

© Can Stock Photo / mikdam

I am happy as a clam, working like a dog. Where did those sayings come from?

Who knows whether clams are happy or not? “Working like a dog” does not actually seem to be too taxing. (My dog Bailey mainly sleeps, eats, goes on walks and plays—he spends very little time coaching effective investing behavior, his only real job.)

I am obsessed with my work. It gets a lot of my energy but in turn energizes me. My long-held goal of working to age 92 shapes my habits—I can’t work to age 92 unless I live to age 92. This has an impact on what I eat, physical activity, sleep habits, and everything else that bears on health and wellbeing.

This may have a key benefit for clients. At an age when some people are coasting toward retirement, we are striving to build for the decades ahead, focused on the future. Our widely recognized new media presence at http://www.228Main.com and related social media venues are examples of that focus.

Two key things over the past decade have forged our enterprise into what it is today. In the interest of sustainability (working to age 92), Cathy and I adopted a snowbird schedule in 2010—spending parts of the winter in a warmer place. A few years after that, family health issues began to impact my travel schedule.

The snowbirding led to a conscious process of figuring out our most important activities and paring back the extraneous. Talking to you, researching investments, and managing portfolios are those key activities.

The schedule challenges made a necessity of learning to delegate. An entrepreneur cannot build a reliable organization unless she or he is willing to find good people and entrust them with vital aspects of the business. This is difficult for many—but I had no choice.

Together, these factors enabled us to build a focused, effective organization to serve you and other wonderful people. By striving to invest only with those who are a good fit philosophically, we have the same story for everyone. The efficiencies of having everybody on the same page are enormous.

So yes, I am working like a dog. And swimming most days, walking every day, eating healthy, enjoying family (now including grandkids!), appreciating my surroundings, loving Beautiful Downtown Louisville, and of course, grateful to be trusted by you to help with your plans and planning.

Clients, if you would like to discuss this or any other topic, please email us or call.

Related reading:
1. About challenges making us stronger: https://228main.com/2016/12/12/kiln-fired-personalities
2. About focus: https://228main.com/2017/10/02/focus-people
3. About the investment philosophy we share: https://228main.com/2016/05/25/niche-market-of-the-mind

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

A Lesson From An Old Friend

© www.canstockphoto.com / 06photo

Surveys indicate that many Americans dislike their jobs. If you are among them, I hope you are not irritated by the enthusiasm I have for my work.

“Job” is the key distinction, however. One individual who had a formative influence on my life did not have a job—he had an enterprise. Dean Sack founded the York State Bank in the World War II years, among many other endeavors, and ran it to the age of 92. If you have ever wondered how I arrived at the goal of working to age 92, this is it. I met Dean when he was 76, eleven years after he retired—a retirement that only lasted six weeks!

Ironically, much of our work is devoted to helping people fund and find fulfilling retirement lifestyles. Most do not have control over their working conditions to the degree that I enjoy. So retirement is a worthwhile and laudable goal for most, if not for me.

When the Depression hit in 1929, Dean was an adult, at work. He fascinated me, a student of history—and face it, not many want to hear an old man’s stories. So we grew close. Among the qualities that Dean showed: a hunger for new ideas, and to learn; consistency and honesty and integrity, no pretense and no bull; a tight focus on the things he could control. He and others of his generation did much to build their communities and the world.

I was fortunate to observe so much wisdom at an early stage in my career. Thirty years ago, nobody talked about ‘work-life balance,’ but Dean was the model for an integrated life: being the same person at work and play, with friends and customers, day and night.

We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before, as they say. Vast wisdom resides in those generations. The lessons we may learn cost nothing, but can be valuable beyond price. Here’s to our mentors and teachers and wise elders!