Your Advisor's Thoughts

Oh Doughnuts!

I absolutely love doughnuts.  Words can’t describe how much I enjoy them.  Last week they put up a Dunkin Donuts across the street from our office, coincidently last Sunday I read the following quote in the Inquirer.

 

“It’s like doughnuts.  You swear them off.  You’re never going to have them again.  Then you try them and slowly you get back into them again”  - Jack Ablin, Chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank, on investing in stocks.

 

I fully identify with the quote from Jack about exquisite doughnuts.  I can also relate because, recently I have experienced many people reluctant to invest in the market.  For the most part, I get it.  There is intense pain in losing principle over and over again.  We all know this is the time to buy in (at a low) but we are all scared.

 

So next time you see me I may be a few pounds heavier as a result of our new neighbor and you now know the reason why.

 

Stay tuned for more…

Greg Teal is an investment advisor representative for Trustmont Advisory Group, Member FINRA, SIPC

 

Teach Your Children About Money

 

Again this week we have a guest blog entry from Phil Giambri, President of "Your Best Interest" Financial Services Inc.

 

Teach your children about money!

It is disturbing to me to watch young person after young person walk into our office looking for a miracle.  They need someone to help them get out of debt, whether it is a credit card mess, a new car purchase or even a house purchase that they know they can’t afford before they go to settlement.

Parents!  Please teach your children about spending wisely.

Our education system doesn’t teach students to budget, which, by the way, is not a four letter word.  It doesn’t teach them to control credit, rather than letting credit control them, and it doesn’t teach them the difference between a “need” and a “want”!

Where is a parent to begin?

Lead by example.  You cannot teach your child to be wise with their money unless you are being disciplined with yours!

Stay Tuned For More...

Phil is a registered representative for Trustmont Financial Group  Member FINRA, SIPC.

Work The Plan!

 This is a guest blog by Phil Giambri, President of "Your Best Interest" Financial Services Inc.

It was an exciting time for our family in 1998; our oldest daughter, Rachael, was graduating from college. The whole family, including two sets of grandparents, loaded into cars and made the six hour trip to the Northwestern corner of

New York State.

When the ceremony started, my thoughts were this should last about an hour and a half to two hours and then the celebrating will begin.  Little did I realize that during that ceremony I would hear a statement that has stuck with me and I have repeated it to countless people.

Dr. James Wynn, then president of Campus Crusade for Christ was the speaker.  Speaking to the graduates, he made this declaration, “Vision without implementation is a hallucination.”

As soon as these words came out of his mouth, the meaning just hit me and I have strived to apply it in my business and personal life ever since.

Our visions and dreams are nothing but a hallucination if we do not develop a plan to make them a reality.  But the plan is only the first part.  The next step is to implement that plan.  That is where so many of us fail.  Implementation is the key, for without it you accomplish nothing.  For many years I kept a 3x5 card in my desk that said:

1.       Set a Goal

2.       Develop a plan to reach the goal

3.       Implement (work) the plan

In such a volatile financial time, it has become more important for us to develop plans and systems to reach our goals.  We can plan all day long but without putting that plan into action (implementing the plan), we are simply hallucinating!

 

Stay Tuned For More...

 

Phil is a registered representative for Trustmont Financial Group  Member FINRA, SIPC.