by Nicholas Hamner, Esq.
Investment Advisor Representative & Director of Marketing
[email protected]
We got our first real taste of winter this week. We had a long string of below-freezing temps and actually had snow on the ground, despite the huge totals predicted by the media in what was surely going to be the latest Snow-mageddon or Snow-pocalypse (Catast-snow-phe?).
My neighbors were all apparently caught off guard by all of this. No clue.
I live in a suburban development built in the ‘50s. All the houses are small, we’re all wrapped in asbestos that we pretend the lead paint keeps sealed in, and we’re all using oil heat. I’ve been in that house going on 18 years, and I have never seen so many oil trucks running up and down the street as I have this week. It was as if every single homeowner in the neighborhood looked outside, saw the snow, and realized as a unit that nobody had any heating oil. My street has looked like a Meenan parking lot ever since.
It’s a planning mistake, and we’re all guilty of making them. We don’t need to do anything until all of a sudden we have to… and by that time it’s usually too late. The time to patch a roof is about a year before the dark spot appears on the ceiling. The time to get new tires is about 3,000 miles before you careen into the guardrail off a rain-slick highway. Doing something before you need to is planning. Doing something once you have to is expensive. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Those are the five Ps referenced in the title.
If you’re wondering if this has anything to do with Franklin Retirement, wonder no more. Planning… proactively planning well ahead of time… is a large part of what we do. A proactive tax plan—and this isn’t just filing in January vs. April— is what prevents you from getting hit with a surprise penalty or really high tax bill. Planning your retirement today ensures you’ll make the income planning decisions that will allow you to live the retirement you want without constantly worrying if you’ll run out of money. And planning your estate now guarantees that your heirs won’t have to fight the state over what your final wishes were.
I would ask how all of you are doing, planning-wise, but I’m pretty sure at least 10 of you hopped up to go check your oil tank and haven’t come back yet…