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I grew up on a farm. As the son of a farmer I learned how to do a lot of things with baling wire. We used it to fix our farm equipment, mend fences and repair a myriad of other farm problems. It was strong, flexible and it seemed there was not anything a little baling wire couldn't fix. We used to get nervous when we ran out of it.
As I grew up, I began to see instances where either baling wire was inadequate or the temporary fix it provides may, in the long run, do more harm than good.
While my parents were farmers, they didn't own enough of their own land to make a go of it so they rented farmland from a retired farmer and then from his widow. They were promised, on a handshake, the ability to buy that farm someday. That someday never came. At the widow's death, the property went to her children who had other ideas about that farmland. My dad, Frank, had taken great care of the farmer's widow for over 20 years which didn't end up meaning a lot to her children. That was a very stressful time in dad's life- so stressful that he died two months later of a heart attack at age fifty-five. The handshake and verbal agreement were an easy fix to my parent's future plans, but they would have been much better served with proper planning and document execution.
Years later, my sister, Debbie, went through a rough divorce and period of financial turmoil. Because she was under emotional distress she applied "baling wire" to her financial situation- she used temporary fixes here and there instead of coming up with a solid strategy. Then a diagnosis of ovarian cancer piled on even more distress and eventually took her life. The earlier utilization of baling wire instead of proper post-divorce planning meant that she was financially ruined at the end of her life.
After my dad passed away, we moved Mom to town and into a new home. My father had no life insurance or significant savings, so at age fifty, for the first time in her life, my mom had to get a job outside of the home. Dottie landed in a great place, as the much-loved head cook at the local high school cafeteria, but her life would have been significantly easier had she and my dad been able create a solid, long-term financial strategy that managed their risk.
In my 35+ years as a CPA, I consistently encounter folks who either have no long-term financial strategy, or have a financial advisor that seems to be using baling wire in managing their wealth- reacting to temporary fluctuations in the markets, engaging in market timing and using easy fixes instead of working toward an achievable goal, and looking at only a small piece rather than the whole wealth picture.
I've seen firsthand the pain a lack of planning and execution causes. I don't want that to happen to anyone else- especially when, with the assistance of an experienced professional, it's an avoidable pain. It's why I do this.
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