Thousand dollar day
Good morning!
I just returned from our company's annual conference in Richmond, VA, and it was great!
Got to see many friends, colleagues, and teammates.
And met a lot of new folks including several advisors that have joined our firm since our conference last year.
Learned a lot, some of which I'll be sharing with you in the coming weeks.
But one thing that really stood out to me at the conference is that there are, broadly speaking, 2 types of financial advisors.
I learned this quickly through my conversations with different advisors between conference sessions.
There are what I'll call the "money managers" who seem to enjoy talking about investments, markets, commodities, economics, and numbers non-stop.
Don't get me wrong... they're nice people and absolutely are focused on taking care of their clients. But they can't seem to get enough of talking about clients' investments.
I don't consider myself a "money manager."
Then there are the "relationship managers," or advisors who are focused on delivering great advice and strategy to their clients, but who seem more concerned with meaning than markets.
Emotions over economics.
Insights over investments.
These are my people.
Again, this doesn't mean that the "relationship" crowd doesn't have the skill and experience to deliver great planning to their clients. They do.
And one isn't better than another.
It's just a different focus.
And here's the thing. To be a great advisor, you have to manage both money AND relationships.
Depending on the day of the week or prevailing winds, you might need to focus your efforts on one over the other.
And it can flip-flop the other way in an instant.
Likewise, some of you are going to better communicate and align with a money manager who wants to do nothing but talk about investment markets, portfolio strategies, and the like.
Others will appreciate more attention on the relationship and might prefer working with an advisor whose primary focus is on getting to know you and understand what you're all about and what's important to you.
I recognize I'm not the right fit advisor for everyone, and want to remind you that there is absolutely a "right fit" advisor for you out there.
If you'll just make the effort to find them.
Thousand Dollar Day
A few weeks ago, in response to one of my weekly emails, a reader named Gail shared the following. I loved it and wanted to pass the idea along to you.
Gail writes:
The 'Thousand Dollar Day' is what we've done a couple of times around here when it's been a long time since we've had a real vacation. I've only done it when the bills were paid, and our emergency savings amount was up to date. You just plan a big day. One time we took a small jet boat from the Portland waterfront to Astoria, and spent the day in Astoria doing things we enjoy. Whatever you want for lunch--beverage and dessert, for a change! The Maritime Museum, and souvenirs from the gift shop. Not tchotchkes--nice things! The beautiful coffee table book, good binoculars, quality natural specimens you're not likely to find--agates, shells, etc--things to cherish, because they have intrinsic value and because they'll remind you of the day you went and did all that.
The other 'Thousand Dollar Day' was primo seats at 'Cavalia' with the VIP package. VIPs got catered dinner before the show, a family photo, complimentary hors d'oeuvres during the intermission (which included beer, wine, sodas, canapes, snacks--chips/popcorn, desserts, etc.), and! we got to go into the stables after the show and see the horses and their tack. A few of the performers were around, too. You also get a really nice full color program; it's a small magazine, really.
We saw 'Odysseo'
It's a toss up for me which I like better--a week's vacation or a thousand-dollar-day.
That's it! I'm scheming on another one. A thousand dollars well spent isn't going to wreck retirement.
~~
There's no magic about the dollar amount here. It doesn't matter if you have a thousand dollar day or a five hundred dollar day or some other amount.
The thing I do love about this idea is using your money purposefully on something you - or those you care about - will enjoy and remember for years to come.
So what will you do on your "thousand dollar day?"
Links & things
As I wrote in last week's email about Serena's retirement from tennis, it's about more than just the money. It's also about psychology:
I've written before about the idea of "enough" in our lives, though many of us fail to ever consider "enough" in their pursuit of "more." This article by friend and fellow advisor, Jeremy Walter, does a nice job of explaining what "enough" means personally to a financial advisor. I really enjoyed it and hope you will too:
As a financial advisor, I haven't yet reached my version of "enough" but I can tell you that it ain't too far away...
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