By Wherever Thanksgiving takes you, find time to give thanks before the holiday chaos sets in.
Happy week-before-Thanksgiving everyone! As most of you know, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year – in addition to July 4th, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Christmas, Cinco de Mayo and of course Groundhog Day. But I digress.
I’ll be headed to Seattle with my three boys to spend Thanksgiving at my parents’ house – the home I grew up in – for the first time in 20 or 25 years. All of you moms out there must know how my mom feels – she’s not just excited about having her children home for Thanksgiving, she’s excited about having her first-born, mama’s boy home! I know that, while my mom cares about my three siblings, she’s really looking forward to taking our traditional Thanksgiving morning walk down to Carkeek Park and along the side of Puget Sound with her oldest, biggest, best and most deeply humble oldest son. (Take that, siblings!) Seriously though, I know Gates, Ridley and Michael are looking forward to time with Grandma and Grandpa, as well as other relatives in the area who’ll be around the Thanksgiving table.
Speaking of things to be thankful for, I’ve heard rumors that Black Friday actually starts tomorrow! I’ll call this Baby Black Friday, and I know I’m looking forward to stocking up on my share of Christmas and throwback DVDs for a buck or less. Many of you are probably thinking that it’s way too early for Christmas lists, but according to Amazon, it’s not. Trees and decorations have been out in the stores for weeks, and the top gifts for kids and adults are flying off the shelves, or they’re already back-ordered. It’s never too early to get into the shopping season, right?
Speaking of making lists, here’s a general reminder for those of you who have a planning checklist with us – it might be a good idea to pull that out and take care of some homework. That way we can all go into 2018 feeling like we accomplished something. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks to talk more about our planning checklists and how to best use them to put you and yours in a good financial position.
Until then, have a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends, whether for a day or a week. It’s a great time to think about what you’re truly thankful for, and to express that gratitude to those around you, despite the hustle and bustle of the season.
Article by David Smyth, CLTC, Senior Partner at Family Financial Partners — a financial services firm in Lexington, Kentucky.