STEPHEN SMALENBERGER, EA ®

I love sports and we are at the end of the football season. Now whether you are cheering for your favorite team or another team.  I thought it would be a fun comparison between what teams need to consider and what we need to consider in our lives. No one talks about problems when you’re winning.  It’s when you’re losing that those issues get uncovered.

Long-Time Coach:

When we have a winning record we love our coach!  Whether it’s because they are consistent, bring in great recruits, or have a winning record.  But when we are losing we start to think about considering someone else. This compares to our financial win in the sense that we’ve always done it this way!  If it’s good, then it’s working, but if it’s bad we need to make a change!

Rested:

We want our teams to be rested and healthy.  With a losing record though resting may be creating rust.  Comparing this to our health we have to consider if we have enough life insurance or whether our health calls for other changes in our finances.

Match-Ups:

Sometimes these are good and sometimes they’re not.  Compare this to your budget. Are our expenses exceeding our income?  When things are good we don’t even consider our opponent. If the money’s there we just spend it.  But when funds are tight we start to study what changes we need to make.

Home Field:

Sometimes it’s great to play in front of the home crowd.  But if we are losing it’s hard to get the crowd into it. This is like our dream home where we love the neighborhood, the house, but we’ve put too much into the house and we feel like we are just losing money by staying in it.

Chemistry:

You hear about the locker room atmosphere where the team is really coming together.  That’s the same as our family. We want to have chemistry and be close. Sometimes money can be a good thing to help give experiences or pay for education for a loved one.  But money can also tear a family apart if not handled properly.

Game Plan:

We hear a coach talk about the game plan and that the team executed it well.  But sometimes the game plan can be predictable. They knew what we were doing before the game even starts.  This is like our family knowing our wishes. We want them to know the game plan!

It’s easy to be a Monday-morning quarterback and point out everyone else’s issues.  Stop, survey the field, and make adjustments necessary now so that you’re on the right side…the winning side!

Wondering how this affects your investments? Schedule a call with Michelle and Steve to discuss your portfolio today.