As this crazy, eventful year comes to a close, we’d like to offer a heartfelt “thank you” for being part of the Art of Financial Planning journey.
We are so deeply grateful for your trust and presence in our life and we are sending you our warmest wishes.
2020 was a year of immense uncertainty, global shocks, and worry. It was also a year where the indomitable human spirit shined.
We don’t yet know what 2021 will bring for us, the markets, or the economy. We have a new president who might bring big changes (including increasing taxes on some folks). New vaccines and treatments will help whittle away the pandemic’s threat. Life will go on.
There’s a lot we can’t control about the future, but we can control a few things.
As we usher in a new year with great expectations, can we commit to a few things together?
Harnessing Our Dreams Amid Uncertainty
A lot of dreams were deferred this year (including ours). But let’s move forward and recommit to them even if they look a little different in our new world. Our job together is to help you grow and protect your wealth so you can use it to reach your aspirations, retire in comfort, create change in the world, and leave a legacy of love. It’s the desire to see you achieve your dreams that drives our team and we work tirelessly on your behalf.
Building Up Ourselves (And Our Behaviors)
With so much out of our control (the markets, the economy, pandemics, and other shocks), it’s so important to focus on ourselves, our hopes, our goals, and our dreams. Identifying the choices in our control isn’t just a good financial lesson, it’s a great life lesson. There’s a quote we like from the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who said:
“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.”
Increasing Our Kindness And Patience
In a time of political polarization and increasing social chasms, let’s commit to treating each other with kindness, patience, love, and respect. We are not sure who originated this quote, but we try to keep it in mind when we talk to folks we disagree with:
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Focusing on Time in the Market, Not Timing the Market
Timing the market is impossible to do consistently and well. Even for the pros who spend their lives watching six monitors at a time. The best day to invest in the market is the day after you get paid. The most potent factor you have as an investor is time. Markets are unpredictable, and those who jump in and out based on emotion or “gut feelings” about tops and bottoms typically do worst of all.
what else should we commit to together?
In closing, please accept our gratitude, our good wishes, and our thoughts for the year ahead.
May you and yours enjoy warmth, love, and success in 2021.
Warmest Wishes,
Jared Friedman CFP ®
