I'd like to introduce you to someone
Good morning!
A couple of weeks back, I introduced the idea of a "planning in public" project I've been thinking about for a while.
The responses I received were positive and supportive, but of the almost 800 people that are subscribed to this newsletter, I only received about half-a-dozen replies.
That's OK. I'm not complaining.
And as I've already told you, I truly appreciate the positive feedback that was shared with me.
This probably won't surprise you, but I'm a "planner" by nature.
My natural inclination is to plan, plan, plan, and then plan some more before taking action. Sometimes that's a good approach. Other times... not so much.
So against my own tendencies, I'd like to introduce you to someone:
Please meet "Lillian Lifestyle"
Lillian is the fictional name of the fictional person I'll be using for this project.
One of you suggested that I ask for suggestions from readers for a name for this "person" and I'm absolutely open to your suggestions (and willing to make a change).
So please consider this your invitation to submit your own name for this hypothetical client.
For now, we'll stick with Lillian.
Here's a little about Lillian:
She's divorced and lives in the Atlanta area
She's 61 years old
Lillian has 2 children, both in the mid-to-late 30s
Lillian has one grandchild who is 12 years old
She has a dog, which she adopted from a local rescue group
She was married for 37 years
She works and hopes to retire soon
Her income from work is $120,000 salary + 15% bonus
Here's an overview of her current finances:
She owns a home and has a mortgage
She has a checking and savings account at Bank of America
She has a non-retirement brokerage account, an IRA, and a 401k with her employer
While she has above average income, savings, and investments but doesn't think of herself as "wealthy" or "rich"
I've got some more details to think through with Lillian in the context of "planning in public" but here are my initial thoughts...
I'll finalize Lillian's personal and financial details and share them with you
Then, I'll let you look over my shoulder as I take Lillian through my financial planning process
This will include discovery, building the plan, presenting the plan, making initial adjustments, and then ongoing updates, reviews, and adjustments going forward
Most - if not all - of these planning in public updates will be via YouTube videos which I'll share with you here. In this instance, I suspect it will be much easier to "show" than attempt to "tell" via writing
Once through the initial steps of developing Lillian's plan, I'll invite you to ask questions and use Lillian and her plan to show you how I think about different decisions and choices that we're all faced with around our personal finances
Once again, let me be clear... this is and will remain a "work in progress"
I'll be figuring it out as I go and invite your input and suggestions along the way.
My hope is that this will be educational and provide you with yet another perspective on how to think about your own financial situation, now and going forward.
If you have any initial thoughts, feedback, or suggestions, please hit reply and let me know.
And while I'll be sharing more about Lillian and this project in the coming weeks, I don't plan for it to dominate the content of these weekly email letters.
Stay tuned for more...
Links & things
With the 24/7 cable news networks, the internet, and social media, it seems there's always plenty to be worried about. When it comes to retirement, it's not without its own worries. This article outlines 5 different types of retirement risk, and while I'm not suggesting you should be worried, it's good to be aware of these and remember to focus on the things (risks, in this case) which you can control:
We're bad at predicting the future, all of us. Despite this, we continue to try, especially in the financial services industry. I gave up on attempting to see the future long ago, but many of my colleagues across finance continue to read the tea leaves, the stars, or technical charts. Before you fall prey to their confident-sounding prognostications, read this:
Thank you, as always, for reading.
And if you have any questions or an idea for a future newsletter, blog post, or YouTube video, I'd love your input.
Just hit reply - I read (and appreciate) every email you send.
Until next Wednesday,
Russ