Blogs

One of the unfortunate side effects of spending a little too much time watching some great college basketball recently has been the overexposure to the accompanying commercials that I suppose are required to finance this annual spectacle we refer to as March Madness. Perhaps it’s an occupational hazard that I perceive a high percentage of these advertisements to be related to financial planning – and more specifically planning for retirement.

Retirement. One little word that conjures up complex emotions. Ten letters, three syllables, one simple word that can generate the conflicting feelings of fear and excitement, happiness and sadness, uncertainty and clarity - all at the same time. These feelings can be related to us or maybe our parents or other relatives, but the emotions are the same and they are real.

We have a lot to be concerned about these days—the economy, unemployment, the deficit, the ineffectiveness of government, terrorism—the list goes on. We can work ourselves into quite a state of panic speculating on what the ultimate outcome of these issues will be or over concern about whether or not it could actually get worse.

In working with individual clients, I am always a little puzzled by how often I’ll find out they have one or more account balances with a former employer’s 401(k) or other retirement plan.  I am also puzzled (though not so amazed anymore) that it has usually been a really long time since they’ve made changes or at least evaluated their investment selections in that plan.