Smorgasbord Investing (Town & Gown)

This weeks Weekly Clarity Coaching is also this months “Town & Gown coaching article that we create here at Financial Abundance. For those not local, T&G is a prestigious local magazine, a State College and Penn State tradition since 1966. This month article featured Deb Seward here in the office and she explains why most american’s end up with a lot of stuff in their portfolio. A short and informative read…

Smorgasbord Investing

Many people walk through life trying to be good stewards
and prudent investors finding on the eve of retirement
that they basically acquired a huge pot luck of various investments
that were all supposed to work to retirements
end. Are assets earmarked for actual use and need or did
you “buy” based on returns with the hope of making retirement
decisions later?

What comes to mind is a dining room table with my parents
discussing the checkbook, bank statements, CD’s, etc.
By the time the last of 7 siblings came along, they were
trying to save as much as they could and THANK GOODNESS
FOR 401(k) plans or they may not have saved much
at all. What I have come to realize is my parents consistently
shopped for the best interest rates available, the best
“5 star” performing mutual funds, or the hottest technology
stock during the tech bubble or the next best energy stock.
Should I buy gold? Should I buy a gas? Should I buy more
real estate? Following trends like a Hollywood scarlet follows
the fashion scene. I realized that they were selecting
investments “shooting from the hip”. As a result, they had
short term investments for long term needs and long term
investments for short term needs. Very little time was ever
spend on educating themselves or educating me and my
siblings, as to the paramount question…why are we saving
and investing at all?

From a women’s perspective, we need to take control.
It’s a harsh truth that instead of taking charge of our own
financial futures, many women leave money matters to the
man in our lives or ignore the importance of planning altogether.
Couple this with the fact that women face different
life challenges and financial risks than men, due to life
expectancy and demographics. We need to be educated
and prepared. Understanding your assets now can help
prevent financial crises down the road. Becoming educated
and prepared doesn’t have to be difficult and does not
require you to be an expert. There are resources available.
You can turn to financial professionals who are certified
in the dynamics of investing from a women’s perspective.
I happen to be one of those professionals that can help
you understand how investing works and help you reach
your dreams.

The typical American walks into our office, hopefully
closer to age 40 than age 65, looking for advice about
planning for retirement needs. By this time, they have a
smorgasboard of assets and investments and not sure
what to do or if it will even meet their needs in retirement,
having never defined their retirement lifestyle. Often
frustrated and confused finding themselves in the
“Investor’s Dilemma”, certainly not at peace with
doubt creeping in as the years roll by. Too much emphasis
has been placed on performance, chasing yields, trying to
do the right thing but not focused on the end game.
If this sounds like your dilemma, take charge now before
it’s too late. Find a financial coach that will help educate
you on the different investments and the multitude of retirement
options. What is your number? What is the actual
yield on your entire portfolio that is needed to not run out
of money and maintain your lifestyle to your age 100? Do
you believe taxes will be higher, lower or the same in the
future and the effects this will have on your income? What
about your future health care needs? The fact of the matter
is, you must do active planning now or the majority of
your money is going in one of two areas, the government
or the health care system. Ready to get started or keep
wandering?