Where do you want to go?
Alice in Wonderland is walking down a path and comes to a fork in the road. She asks the Cheshire cat which road she should take. The cat asks her where she wants to go, and Alice replies, “I don’t know.” The cat tells her, "It doesn’t really matter then, does it?"
Are you coming to a fork in your road, but you don’t know really what it is that you’re looking for? You need to decide for yourself what you want. You can’t have someone else tell you what your dreams are. I’ve been listening to a gentleman on a weekly podcast who says that we need to shut everything off, no cell phone, music, computer, or television. Take 10 minutes and write down on a piece of paper where you want to go. Then, you can work on the road.
We already know that most people are worried about money. Just take a look at some recent studies:
- The American Psychological Association 2023 study found that 82% of Americans reported Money as a significant source of stress.
- Gallup in 2023 reported that 61% of Americans worry about having enough money in retirement.
- Bankrate in 2023 found that 57% of US adults couldn’t cover an expense of $1000 from their savings.
- Pew Research Center in 2022 showed that 72% of Americans worry about the rising cost of everyday goods.
- The Federal Reserve 2022 survey of household economics and decision-making reported that 32% of adults said that they were worse off financially than they were in the previous year, and it’s at the highest level since the survey began back in 2013.
- Schroder’s US retirement 2023 survey found that 49% of workers age 45 or older fear not having enough savings in retirement.
These surveys are just about money, which is part of our planning, but what is it that we wish to do with our lives? There are many different ways of “skinning the cat”. Not necessarily a Cheshire cat, though he speaks a great truth here. Where do you want to go? What is the path that you will take? Was it Robert Frost who wrote the poem The Road Not Taken? Sometimes, you need to take a different path than what everyone else is taking.
The Road Not Taken
We see this out in the financial market with other advisors. I have spent a lot of time visiting with other advisors across the country and in our own community. I like to say it’s almost impossible for us ever to run into one another because there are so many people out there who need help. Unfortunately, many advisors want to give directions on which path to take. You can go to the Internet and find out exactly what you need to do. Go to Chat GPT, and it will give you a list of everything. That’s not what we do. What a person really needs is someone to walk alongside them and guide them along the path, because every person has a different path. We all may be worried about similar things, but you need to make the decision first as to where you want to be.
It’s not always simple to get from Point A to Point B. Start by drawing a picture of what that looks like, what that feels like, and write it down. Figure out what Point B is first. If you were to come into our office and ask, “What road should I take?” We would shrug our shoulders because you need to first decide on the destination.
A GPS may get you there, but it may not be the path you want to take. This morning, as I met with the team, I asked them if they had an old-fashioned map in the glove compartment of their automobile. Since most of them are younger, the answer was of course, no, but sometimes you have to take the road less taken. I challenged them to try it out sometime. Sometimes, you need to take a scenic route because it might be more fun. It could teach you things along the way. At our organization, we try to get you where you want to be with help, guidance, understanding, and experience.
If you don’t work with us, perhaps you should consider it. If you do work with us, don’t keep us a secret. Once you’ve decided where you want to go, then perhaps it’s time for you to schedule your Financialoscopy®.
