come on…2020, we want to see you in the rearview mirror!
My favorite part of the week are the calls, emails, and timely articles I receive from clients. I work on this Friday “thoughts” piece off and on all week and weave client’s contributions in every chance I get. A few hours ago I got a call from “J” who was concerned about the economy and market tanking if taxes went up. I totally agreed with him about that worry but said that higher taxes would be on the back burner until we crushed Covid-19. Life will not go back to normal and we cannot fully open the economy; our kids cannot go back to school; our essential workers are at risk and our beloved teacher’s lives are on the line until we tackle Covid. None of us will be free to travel, go out to eat, go to work, and safely shop. All that matters is that we develop a national strategy, like declaring war on a foreign adversary and CRUSH IT. This email really helped me close the door on Tuesday and it lifted my heart and summed up what we are all thinking: “We come to the night of the election. After weeks of overwhelming sensory overload, we have arrived. I can no longer take any more input, analysis, or opinions. What will be, will be. It is what it is. I will deal with it tomorrow. Until then, I have had three brandy Manhattans, a wonderful steak dinner with sautéed spinach, baked potato and a nice red wine, K’s bleu cheese dressing on the salad, all the while listening to Pink Floyd. I have done all I can. I am spent. Tomorrow I will see what has happened and deal with it. I will pray for our country. We will all go on from here. God bless the USA. May we be worthy of his blessings.” 😲 ☹ Why does this matter to you? Leadership is the only way the “frown” can become a “smile.”
One of the “options” I see with many 401ks and 529 college savings plans are “target date funds.” Stock commissions have been declining to $0 over the last decade so investment firms had to find another way to make money. “Set it and forget it” and “go on autopilot for the rest of your life” was what they came up with! Now with $2.3 trillion in assets, target date funds automatically shift your asset allocation from aggressive to more conservative as you reach your goals. Studies show the vast majority of investors are terrible at deciding how much risk to take and when to make changes, so this might seem to be the perfect solution. However, when you pick a target date fund you delegate portfolio decisions to a fund manager in exchange for an extra layer of fees. You make one decision that takes the brain damage out of investing. 😲 Why does this matter to you? If the target date manager is too aggressive at the wrong time, you will have more volatility than you might be comfortable with. Think back over your life: is your age the only thing you considered when you decided to invest in stocks? How would you feel if you had 90% of your portfolio in stocks going into the Pandemic, no matter what your age was? The riskiest years of your work-life are the years leading up to your retirement…and the first few years after you retire as you adjust to life without a paycheck. Spend your work years becoming financially savvy…developing a process, a strategy, for how you will make investment decisions. Learn how to have a cool head under fire…and when to not follow the crowd. This is the key to sleeping well at night.
One of the brightest organizations in Tulsa for those who want to learn and engage with others who are interested in sustainability is Sustainable Tulsa. Known for their free 1st Thursday (now) Virtual Events, experts from all fields explore how to bring People- Planet - Profit together. Yesterday, Brad Carl with The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma had a fantastic presentation titled “It’s OK To Talk About Climate! Find the recorded replay, here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC1W0pYdpF0&feature=youtu.be and check out these Presentation Links: Yale Climate Opinion Maps 2020 and Let's Talk Climate guide
😊 Why does this matter to you? Whether you work in the energy sector, agriculture, sustainability, or politics, or are just a citizen…the topic of climate change and its impacts are getting a lot of attention this year. BUT, how do we even begin to talk about the subject or any possible solutions our state can play a part in? Sustainable Tulsa memberships come in all levels, https://sustainabletulsainc.org/join/ or you can just sign up to get emails about the 1st Thursday Free events.
As Charles Schwab begins folding TD Ameritrade’s technology into their current system, things will change for all of us. We are starting to hear what Schwab will keep — and what it will not, and the decisions will have big implications for the thousands of advisors and hundreds of tech vendors. At Schwab’s recent annual Impact conference, senior V.P of digital advisor solutions, Andrew Salesky, said the team was just getting started on its integration plan but he assures advisors (AKA US!!!) that they won’t lose the capabilities we, and our clients enjoy, today. Schwab is most interested in Veo One, TD’s dashboard, which is a select number of tightly integrated fintech’s. 😲 Why does this matter to you? I am sorry if this sounds like Silicon-Valley-Girl-talk, but the pandemic has accelerated technology innovation. Over the last decade there has been a series of financial roll-ups…remember Mariner buying Adams Hall? I am sorry to report that the firms are most concerned about profits and growing their assets under management and they just assume you will go along with the changes they foist on you. Schwab acknowledges “We recognize that advisors and clients will need time to get comfortable,” and their focus, at least early on, will be on modernizing the custodian infrastructure to support digital workflows and streamlined processes. Paperless onboarding, money movement, transfer of accounts and digital client approvals will continue to be a priority. Says Schwab, “Sometimes when firms talk about innovation, they don’t always talk about how clients may feel when things change.” The good news is that life will be easier for you and me…but there will be days when we log onto Schwab and everything is different. Just trust…that before that happens, we will be there, as we prepare for change: you will not be alone.
Skye Advisors 2.0 will help you get ahead of the changes coming our way! The good news is all of this can make our life easier in the long run. I am changing because the world is changing and as usual, we are ahead of the curve!
Constancy noun con·stan·cy | \ ˈkän(t)-stən(t)-sē