Category: Coaching Corner

By Marc Shaffer

Our health is one of the most important things we have in life. It is vital for our ability to live – not to just be alive, but to actually LIVE.

There are many ways in which our health and wellness needs can be met, and the route you choose may be a mix of traditional and alternative medicines, exercises and practices.

Several studies have looked into the emotional and physical benefits of touch. How important is physical touch to you? In our isolated world, we might not realize how important physical touch is until we’ve been without it for some time. In fact, physical touch is designated as one of the five “Love Languages.”

By Jessica Searcy Kmetty

Financial planning is not a one and done process. While we have many discussions with clients about their goals during the development of their plan, we know that things will pop up along the way that can cause goals to change. In some cases, these are decisions that are made after personal reflection warrants a change. But sometimes, we are forced to change our goals.

Goal planning isn’t just present in financial planning. I’m sure many of you have personal goals that you’re hoping to achieve this year. We’re in a brand new decade, which means some personal goals you set may have been even BIGGER than normal as you looked toward a chance to start fresh and new, or were ready to make things happen that you’ve been pondering for some time.

One of the most well-known investors of the 20th Century, Benjamin Graham, said, “the investor’s chief problem – and even his worst enemy – is likely to be himself.”

What Graham understood – and modern research is catching up to – is the idea that we all have emotions and biases that affect our decision-making. The innate wiring built to survive premodern times can be counterproductive in our modern world, especially when it comes to investing.

Let’s take a quick look at a few of the human emotions and biases that can adversely impact sound investment decision-making.

By John C. Fales

If you give $1,000 to every member of a family, there’s a high likelihood that no two members will spend it the same way.

Money is a tool that is used to accomplish goals, and it often takes some patience and understanding to uncover the motivation behind how each family member chooses to use their money. However, patience and understanding are not always the first reactions when family members discuss, or perhaps judge, their family members’ behavior.

Are family dynamics getting in the way of your multi-generational financial planning?

By Marc C. Shaffer

Americans take wellness pretty seriously.

We’re tracking our steps, sleep and health patterns on wearable devices to make sure we stay on track daily. We’re getting our social fix in healthy ways such as group fitness classes, fun runs and endurance obstacle course events. We’re getting organic ingredients delivered to our homes to make meals as a family and taking customized mixes of health supplements. We’re even planning our vacations around a mix of relaxation and athletic opportunities. According to a 2018 MyProtein study, we’re spending more on fitness over a lifetime than we pay for college tuition.

By Marc C. Shaffer

As I was chatting with my mentor one day, he tells me there’s a great guy he wants me to meet and his name is Marc Shaffer. Well, that’s me, of course. I had him explain and he told me I was too busy focusing on one thing and all of my energy, my time and my passion was being exhausted in that one area.

I wasn’t spending time with myself, I wasn’t letting myself contemplate what was beyond that singular area of focus, and if I continued along that path, I might end up having done one great thing in my life at the expense of knowing myself and growing in other areas.

Luckily, I had someone in my life who could recognize this behavior and keep me accountable to living a full and diverse life.

Do you have someone in your life keeping you accountable to the things you say you want to accomplish?

By Michael J. Searcy

I have been fortunate to have the freedom of choice in my life and it has steered me through a life I enjoyed. I chose a place to settle down and start my own financial planning and wealth management firm, and I was happy both professionally and personally.

Until I wasn’t.

Now, that might sound like I had reached a negative spot in my life, but in reality, I had just reached a point where I was ready to pivot.