| Face the Future With Clarity and Confidence |
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I help clients sort through the avalanche of numbers, details and conflicting advice they face, to make sense of what they have - so they can face the future with clarity and confidence.
Call 978-635-9687 or email me (Kathy@NashobaFinancialPlanning.com) today to talk about which of our services might be right for you. Preview the Confidential Questionnaire on our website by clicking on "Client Forms". Visit our website . . .
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 Wow, the wild ride on Wall Street continues! Fasten your seat belts - it's likely to continue for a while. If you have a plan and a well-balanced portfolio, stay the course. If not, maybe it's time you did.
This past summer I went to the Saratoga Race Track for the first time. Is investing really similar to betting on the horses? I hope you find my story, "A Day At the Races", interesting and useful.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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A Day at the Races
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This summer I went to the Saratoga Race Track in Saratoga Springs, New York, with a high school friend, Barbara. (One of the really nice things about being an empty nester is having the time to re-connect with old friends!) Barbara lives within walking distance from the track and goes several times a summer to have some fun placing small bets. There were plenty of people there betting--some winning and some losing. I don't know how, but I am sure that the bookmakers keep a slice of the money that passes through their hands. What a racket.
Barbara brought along the local newspaper with the odds for the races that day. We also got a program that listed all the horses and their owners, racing history, family history, breeders, trainers and jockeys. Barbara studied all this data and placed her bets. Since I had no idea what any of this meant, I placed the same bets. Mostly we lost money. Well, I don't like losing money especially when I don't know what I am doing, so after a few races, I just watched for a while. Just before we left, Barbara insisted that I place a bet. I studied the forms, but all the data made absolutely no sense to me. "Now I know how my clients must feel when I show them Morningstar reports for their mutual funds!", I muttered. And then I picked a horse because I liked the name.
So, if that describes how you feel about those Morningstar reports, I can now empathize. However, at that point I had to ask myself: "What is the difference between betting on the horses and investing your money in a portfolio?" You know that I would never say, "To fund your retirement, you need to get down to the track or casino and win some money." Yet is investing in the market really any different from betting on the horses?
Investing your money isn't gambling--if you do it right:
- First, you educate yourself about investing. Why hold stocks vs. bonds vs. cash?
- Second, you minimize the money that you have to pay to play. We recommend no load mutual funds and we look at the expense ratios. The financial industry has developed many ways to take your money without you knowing it. You want to know what the charges are so you can buy only what you need.
- Third, you avoid acting on greed or fear--the biggest influences on short term market prices.
- Fourth, you don't bet it all on "Easy Money" to win in the fifth race. You diversify, so that you aren't risking everything on one type of investment.
- Fifth, you don't listen to the touts...the people who tell you where the great deals are. This is a version of what Bert Whitehead, founder of the Alliance of Cambridge Advisors, calls the Big Lie: "Give me your money and I'll make you rich."
And, to get back to my day at the races, the horse with the great name won (which isn't exactly the moral of this story, is it?). |
The Book Nook
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 Your Life As Art by Robert Fritz
Here's a practical, un-common sense approach to creating the life that you want. You can use the techniques that artists use to create their works to create your life the way you want it to be.
It is not about "creativity" in the sense of something unique and novel, but rather creating--conceiving of and bringing into being something that has not existed before.
Robert Fritz is an international best selling author, consultant, and workshop leader. I first met him over 25 years ago when I took one of his workshops. Over the years he's tested and refined his ideas. The book, and all of Fritz' work, is penetrating and practical. Try the book...and discover what Fritz calls your potential to be the playwright, actor, and audience for a great play--your life.
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