My last journal post here…
I am jumping off my post as financial advisor and entering a new stage of retirement myself July 1. As I counsel my own “head space” for this next stage -- I consider the valuable lessons learned and what I hope to implement on this next journey.
1. Every life stage has its difficulties. Any transition can be both joyful and fearful. A few books comment on 4 stages of retirement – CLICK HERE TO READ MORE
a. Money is just one side of a multidimensional change of life.
b. Mind, body and spirit in balance with financial resources tend to add to retirement happiness and contentment.
c. Connecting with people with charity and engagement provides a much greater return on investment than any hot stock.
d. I am hoping my second stage in retirement is short as I already have some ideas!
2. Living in the now while still contemplating the future. My tendency as a planner is to pragmatically address outcomes of the future – good and bad. This can tend to lose focus on the here and now.
3. Behavior modification has huge implications on management of money matters.
a. Savers are challenged to “spend” their retirement funds. Spending guilt prevents them from prudent spending plans.
b. Spenders are challenged to “save” for the future. They also have a tough time budgeting in retirement.
c. Spenders marry savers which add to money conflict.
d. When spenders marry spenders - this is an incredibly challenging situation.
4. The money lessons we learned from age 5 to 25 have enormous impact on our own money habits in adulthood. The more we understand our hereditary and nurturing of good or unhealthy habits, the more likely we can address these biases.
a. My father, a product of childhood in the great depression, had impact on my own bias and internal struggles. Thankfully, my mother provided me with good balance and understanding of life is worth risk taking.
b. Emotional over reaction hurts all aspects of long-term financial success.
5. Never stop learning. This last lesson was one I tried to embrace all the past 38 years in this ever-changing industry and financial advisor role. Never boring, I have become a “forever student” of all things financial. I would say that the better advisors follow this path as well – I did not get credentials for marketing, I got them to understand and provide greater advice to my clients. In the end my references to Pew research, the Brookings institute, Reuters, WSJ, and others is an attempt to combat the terrible echo chambers of social media and bias. Sadly, the statistic that I find so disheartening is that many Gen Z and Millennials now cite Tik Tok © and You Tube © as their source of financial advice.
Bon Voyage as I step into the next exciting chapter!
Jean