What You Could Be Missing Or Are You Really Missing It?

One summer I decided to pour a new driveway myself. I prepared the area that would result in 100 yards of concrete being poured. I had high hopes for a beautiful driveway, so I set about to set the forms with A string to make it straight and level and proceeded to drive in the stakes that would keep everything in place. One day as I was finishing up setting the forms a friend stopped by. As I worked and we chatted my friend noticed that I was having a hard time getting the stakes to go straight into the ground—they would hit rocks or hard ground and end up crooked. As my friend watched me struggle to get a stake set precisely where I wanted it, he smiled and asked me “Do you want to know a secret?” “Yes!” He took a stake and proceeded to drive the stake into the ground without even trying to keep it aligned with the string. Then he did something surprising—he took his hammer and hit the ground around the stake, easily and quickly moving it into perfect alignment with the string. I was shocked! In a matter of five seconds he did perfectly what

I was trying to do but couldn’t. As I finished up I mentally calculated the time wasted and frustration experienced all because I didn’t know what he knew about how to drive a perfectly straight stake.

Like my friend that warm summer day, have you ever had someone tell you about something that they were attempting to do, and, as they described it you realized that they really had no idea that what they were doing could have been done so much better and easier? Since you knew the “secrets” of the trade or project that they were attempting, you could have told them how to do it better and faster with great results.

At First Wealth we meet people all the time that have been managing their own 401k— investing on their own and doing their own planning. In some cases they may feel that they have done well, but much like me setting my own driveway they
may not realize that they are missing some key elements that would make their work so much more easy and profitable. While they are to be commended for taking the initiative and demonstrating the discipline to run their own investments, quite often, without even knowing it, they have missed what is in their best interest. Just as I would have saved hours in time and frustration by seeking the help of my friend sooner, the sooner people meet with a qualified financial advisor, the sooner they can maximize their financial opportunities and reduce risk.

In addition, we sometimes meet with people that have been “lucky” in the self-management of their 401k, but have forfeited what could have been gained if they had a qualified financial advisor. If they continue on this path they will most likely be shocked and caught off guard by surprises that they never saw coming. Qualified financial advisors can see around “blind corners” and anticipate factors that could cause risk to their client’s investments. These advisors will help you make the most or your 401k for a successful retirement — much like the joy and fulfillment of learning the “secret” to driving stakes in seconds instead of sweating for hours with less than optimal results.