There’s a saying in our industry that Americans spend more time planning their summer vacation than they do their retirement.
Now most people probably hear that and think it’s a bad thing. But I look at it differently: You’ve got better things to do with your time today than worry about your financial picture. That’s where I come in.
Since the pandemic, more and more people have been sitting on higher cash reserves than they used to, and the current interest rate environment has provided a unique opportunity to grow that cash relatively safe and low risk. In this edition of Dave’s Inbox, I wanted to address a couple of questions I’ve gotten repeatedly.
As a wealth advisor, I have many conversations with young and more seasoned families (not old; age is just a number) who are interested in what I do but have one major misconception about investing: You need a lot of money to start.
It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it to the end of another year. Amidst the hustle of the holidays, I want to encourage you to stay diligent about your financial plan. Here is a little end-of-year to-do list that will help set you up for continued success in 2024.
With the new year comes New Year’s resolutions, and rather than telling you all about mine (you’re welcome), I thought I would set some resolutions for the American economy in 2024.
So much of gardening is the hard work and growth that takes place underneath the soil — feeding and nurturing our plants so they can build strong roots that will sustain them long after our work is done, allowing us to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Nobody ever comments on the roots, on the quality of the soil, or on the weeding we did that gave them room to grow. All they see is the beauty that lives above the dirt — the finished product.
Building, maintaining, and sticking to a budget can be a tough task for many of us with regular, full-time jobs. But it gets a lot more difficult if you don’t have a regular income, like those in sales-based jobs, seasonal workers, or folks who work in the gig economy. If you fall into one of these categories — as more and more young earners do — it’s especially important to budget wisely to have a plan for those months when the checks don’t come in quite as high as usual.
How investing a little can lead to much more.
You may remember learning about erosion in school, how a small trickle of water, over time, can wear away rocks and soil and transform into a raging river.
That image always enters my mind when I talk with young investors about how to make their money work for them early in their careers. Coming into their first jobs out of college, they probably aren’t making much income, and that’s while they’re considering student loans, saving for a first down payment on a home, and the other expenses that come from starting life on their own. Many of them feel that there just isn’t enough left over to start funding an investment account in a meaningful way.
I keep track of the many questions I receive from client families about their financial pictures, and I wanted to address two of those questions that have come up quite a bit recently regarding retirement accounts in a down market.
Before making any decisions, let’s make sure the next big “Investment” is actually an investment and not just speculation.
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