Financial Planning Articles

“There are two kinds of forecasters: those who don’t know, and those who don’t know they don’t know.”
– John Kenneth Galbraith

I came across this quote in the first couple of years of my career, when I was pretty sure I knew nothing about economic forecasting, so I decided I had no choice but to plant my flag proudly in the first camp. In the 35 years or so that have elapsed since then, I haven’t encountered anything new that dissuades me from thinking that initial assessment has changed. I still don’t know anything for sure.

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To create a plan of any kind, you have to know the ultimate destination you are trying to reach, right? Theoretically anyway, that is a “no-brainer.” Because without a “big, hairy, audacious goal” to aim towards on the far horizon, how can you possibly keep yourself motivated?

So, in the so-called “retail investing” world, the attention focused on big financial goals and dreams is significant. Think about all the ads you have seen of mature, tanned, fit people strolling along white sand beaches or sipping beverages with little umbrellas in them as the golden sun sets over the bay. Think of the houses, cars, yachts, golf courses and exotic vacations depicted.

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How many times in the last year have you encountered the term “uncharted territory” in a newspaper or magazine article, a podcast, a social media post, or a television news story? For me, it seems like thousands. I have not done anything scientific to verify this theory, but I would hazard a guess that that term has been employed more times in the last 12 or 13 months than it has been in any comparable period during my lifetime to describe: the pandemic, the sudden social, economic, financial, and political changes it has helped to catalyze, the massive amounts of government borrowing we’re engaging in, the current and future government spending programs that are now being proposed, and the massive environmental and social changes we are witnessing around the globe.

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Finances can be an isolating subject for many. If you’re anything like me, it was a completely taboo subject in my household growing up. From the basics of saving money to the complexities of credit scores and loans, I was ushered into adulthood armed with nothing more than a pat on the back and Google in my pocket (I know many of you were not even that lucky). Then I went off to college and graduate school, gaining all kinds of new understanding and confidence in my abilities to learn and grow. But not in this particular arena.

What I have learned from my teammates at LSG is a secret that is a surprising and unfortunate reality. I’d like to share this secret with you now. You see, the truth is…my story is not unusual. In fact, it is true for a large majority of Americans.

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I have spent a fair amount of time in the last week or so looking back at where we were a year ago. Anniversaries have a way of provoking such things, and it’s amazing to contemplate just how much has changed since then, and how little of that change any of us could possibly have anticipated.

On a national level, there are plenty of similar musings being published right now, so I promise not to belabor the same points, but a couple of financial statistics just take your breath away.

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Last week, our state was ravaged by a winter storm the likes of which we haven’t seen before. The average temperature in Texas on February 15 was 11.8 degrees. Aside from breaking records, the storm also broke transportation systems, business and industry operations, electrical grid functionality and water pipes galore. Our only choice was to bundle up and downshift into survival mode.

What never ceases to amaze me in times of crisis – which now feel like regular occurrences these days – is how communities rally to take care of one another. When folks could have simply put blinders on and focused only on their own critical needs, I saw the opposite happening all around me. I bet you did too.

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2020 was a heck of a year for just about everyone. Exhausted by disease, political division, social disruption, and economic uncertainty, we are all aching for change. The dawn of 2021 seemed like the perfect opportunity to just put it all behind us as quickly as possible and move on.

Before I say a final goodbye to 2020 though, I want to express my deep appreciation for my colleagues here, because it is precisely against the tough backdrop of last year that their best attributes stand out.

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While 2020 has certainly been packed to the gills with challenges, there are several factors in play that set up exciting opportunities for the giver in each of us this holiday season.

Charitable giving has been on the rise for years, with 2019 seeing the highest full year giving rates to date. Americans gave nearly $450 billion, up 2.4% from the previous year. Individuals made up 69% of the total giving, with corporations covering the remainder. If you had asked me in March if I expected that trend to continue into this year, I would have told you not a chance.

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Back to school looked much different this year than we are used to seeing, but of course that is no surprise in this 6th month of COVID-19 restrictions. With the challenges posed to education by this new environment, we felt it was good timing to pass along some information about 529 college savings plans and the ways in which their stipulations have expanded.

Take a look at the list below and let us know if you have any questions or comments. We appreciate your feedback, and we look forward to hearing from you.

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I identify as a “grim optimist.” I don’t recall when I first heard that term used, but it instantly struck me as a perfect descriptor for my general approach to life.

Readers of these missives know that one of the investment principles I espouse is a hard-nosed faith, grounded in historical fact, that no matter how challenging things might be at any given point, they will eventually get better. Honestly, I don’t believe one can make a successful long-term investor (in anything) out of someone who doesn’t hew to that belief. Whether one is leading a business, raising a family, or diligently investing precious capital to fund a multi-decade retirement, if we’re unable to retain that gritty faith through thick and thin, I think it’s impossible to maintain the discipline necessary to keep doing the right things, or to retain the patience required to avoid doing the wrong things – especially during periods when those very principles themselves appear to be threatened.

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It just doesn’t quite feel like summer this year. Maybe your plans got cancelled or, like me, you have kids running around the house while you’re trying to conduct a videoconference. We are all facing challenging times. Nevertheless, it is worth noting how this pandemic affects each of us differently. Those who find themselves in a life transition probably feel a heightened sense of anxiety. I particularly think of recent graduates, essential workers, and those most affected by this virus who don’t have the luxury of working from the safety of their home.

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In the first weeks of the shut down, I told my husband and friends that this is a good practice retirement. We are spending more time at home, alone or with our spouses. That is what retirement will be like and we need to think about if we are enjoying much of this.

My neighbor, who heard me say this in a mask, six feet apart said, “This is nothing like retirement! When I retire, I am going to go out to dinner! I am going to travel and see my kids! I am going to listen to live music! This is just staying home and going for walks. This is so boring I am crawling out of my skin!”

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Like many people recently, I’ve spent some time thinking about what’s important as we grope our way through this unnerving new existence. I’ve wondered what lessons we might draw from history, and what we could learn from the experiences of others that came before us. I have a few thoughts I’d like to share. I trust you’ll forgive me that they’re not primarily centered around financial wealth.

First, I’d like to say a sincere “Thank you” to all our clients and friends who’ve made such a special point to wish us well, to send us special acknowledgements of appreciation, or to ask us how we’re doing in this environment.

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On March 27, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES” Act) into law. The more than $2 trillion package seeks to address financial pressures facing individuals, businesses, and state and local governments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Below you will find a list of the CARES Act provisions we believe will most impact our clients. We have excluded the provisions that assist small businesses and instead only listed those that affect individuals.

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To all our precious clients and friends,

I am writing to you amid one of the most challenging environments any of us has experienced in a long, long time.

The fact is, in 28 short days our reality has suddenly changed. We must all confront that brutal fact, and not minimize the challenges ahead of us.

In the breathtaking space of just four short weeks, our individual and collective sense of safety, stability and control has been rocked by an accelerating series of events that are shaking the central pillars of our well-being.

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Some thoughts about current events, human behavior and the viral nature of panic.

I am not an infectious disease expert. I cannot speak with any authority on COVID 19, also known as Coronavirus. Even if I could, I’m quite sure there is nothing more that I could offer to the already-too-loud cacophony of the existing news coverage out there anyway, so I promise not to add to that din here.

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Happy New Year! All of us at Lucien, Stirling & Gray hope 2019 was generous to you in many, many ways, and that 2020 brings you health, prosperity and enough personal challenge and growth to make life interesting and fulfilling.

First, thank you. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given the opportunity to serve all you clients of this firm who are, to a person, likeable, respectable and friendly. I feel equally blessed to be surrounded by a team of great colleagues who do everything possible to demonstrate just how honest, hard-working, fun-loving, self-effacing and professional they are in caring for your needs.

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Has there ever been a time when you wondered if some official thought it was more important to come up with a catchy acronym than it was to name a law sensibly in the first place? My apologies if I sound cynical, but I’ve been having those thoughts recently.

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was passed and signed into law by President Trump at the end of December 2019. It enacts various reforms to retirement law that could affect your retirement plans and your estate planning.

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We hope you’ve had a wonderful Holiday Season so far, and we wish you the very best for a great New Year’s celebration and a healthy, happy and prosperous 2020! Since part of prosperity typically involves finances, what follows is a brief notice of various updates and changes to retirement plan contribution limits for 2020, and a short reminder of why it’s not necessarily good to file your taxes as quickly as possible.

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Warren Buffett once commented that, “the most important quality for an investor is temperament, not intellect.” Think about that for a moment. In other words, it’s not how smart you are or how quickly you process information that makes the biggest difference in the long run. What ultimately counts the most is how measured you are in your thoughts and how deliberate you are in your behavior.

Our behavior, what we discipline ourselves to do – and even more importantly, what we discipline ourselves not to do – when provoked by perfectly natural human tendencies to act out, is a far greater determinant of our long-term financial success than any other factor.

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