What Can A Surgeon Teach Us About Making Decisions?
It’s a big year for my family as we’re preparing for each of our three kids to move on to new schools this Fall. It has been interesting to watch as each of them has had a decision to make regarding their school of choice. It wasn’t simple—for them or us.
For example, my fourteen-year-old son had the following two options in front of him: to follow in his sisters’ footsteps and attend our local high school or to step out of his comfort zone and explore another school that was further away. The way that we helped him decide, I believe can also be a solid framework for financial planning decisions that we make. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
How To Actually Do Long Term
My wife Vicki and I happily celebrated 20 years of marriage this Spring. As an advisor, my discussions with clients often revolve around categorizing goals as “short-term” and “long-term”; I’m pretty sure 20 years would be in that Long-Term bucket… (and to many of you reading this, 20 years is nothing!)
If you would’ve asked us 20 years ago how those years would play out exactly, we could only tell you something like “comfortable home in a safe neighborhood, a few kids…” and, well maybe that’s it?
Because just like with investing, we can’t know all the details upfront, can we?
The ups and downs of life and raising children, the trials and the tests, the joys, celebrations, and growth… we can’t see it all ahead of time.
I know it sounds obvious, but the same is true with long-term planning/investing. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
Three Questions I’d Ask About Downturns
Stock markets have sold off this year, from what primarily looks like the fear around Russia invading Ukraine. There is also news of higher inflation (after decades of low inflation), as well as interest rates and some other headlines. Recently, the driving force seems to be Russia, however.
So far, what we’re seeing is a very normal type of pullback. As long-term investors, we need to expect downturns from time to time, and this is nothing outside of normal.
However, if this is giving you worry in any way, here are three questions to ask yourself:
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
How Is A Horror Movie Like The Economy And The Markets?
I am not a big fan of scary movies. You know, the ones with the guy in the hockey mask or the girl with the head-spinning thing; that’s just not for me. If I’m honest even just typing those words made me cringe at the memories of seeing those scenes. But there’s an analogy going on between those films and the economy and the stock market. Bear with me, and I’ll explain (hint: it’s not scary).
In those movies, there is a point in which you realize something really, really bad is about to happen. It’s that “oh boy, this is going to be very terrifying” type of moment. Physiologically, some people might experience an increase in heart rate, dryness of mouth, eyes watering or goosebumps. The emotion known as fear is palpable, and we’re anticipating something but we have no idea what to expect.
Some would say (I can’t) that the best horror film keeps this feeling “alive” in you for as long as possible–drawing you in, and keeping you engaged and fearing the absolute worst. Then there is that point that we’re let in. We see the monster, or the face, or the ‘thing’ coming out of the TV and it’s in front of us. It’s at this point that something begins to change. It might be scary, but we know what we’re facing now–it’s in front of us, and there’s almost a sigh of relief as we begin to adapt to a new phase of the film. Some might say “this isn’t really that bad” and the heart rate returns to a more normal pace and the goosebumps subside. Things still need to be dealt with in the movie, but we at least know what we’re dealing with.
How are the economy and the stock market similar to this? > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow…Where Are We?
I recently had a conversation with my youngest son, who is seven years old. “Daddy.” He says. “A few days ago I built a fort and it was fun.” “That’s great,” I tell him. “When exactly did you get to do that?” “Tomorrow” he replies, before correcting himself. “No, no. It was tonight. I mean yesterday.”
This exchange has been typical as Zachary learns where he and his (very important) events lie on the spectrum of time. Something from the past has occurred but putting it into the context of when exactly that took place (and verbalizing it correctly) is something he is learning to do. Understanding when something took place in the context of time is a bit of a challenge for him right now.
To me, this is similar to the perspective we can have with our investment portfolios and the markets. > SEE MORE
Posted by:
Pete Dixon, CFP®
Partner and Advisor