I can't decide whether she was the luckiest or unluckiest person in the history of the world. Her name was Violet Jessop. At 21 years old and a decade or so before 'airline stewardess' was a profession, Violet's knack for hospitality landed her in the cruise line business. She started her stewardess career aboard a vessel called the Olympic. The Olympic was the largest cruise liner in the world when she stepped aboard. The ship boasted a smoking room, a gymnasium, a swimming pool, and palm trees. This was 1909, folks. Be impressed. Be very impressed. A year into her career, in 1910, the Olympic crashed into a British warship called the HMS Hawke. Both ships limped to port.
While the Olympic was undergoing renovations and repairs, Violet was reassigned to the fleets' other ship. It was called the RSS Titantic. Violet was working the maiden voyage of the Titantic and four days later we know how that trip became famous. Violet survived on a lifeboat.
Violet's career was interrupted less than two years later when World War 1 began but she decided she would do her part and serve. She joined the Red Cross and would serve on the HMHS Britannic. It was a cruise liner that had been turned into a floating hospital of sorts. It would bring wounded soldiers back to Britain. That ship ran into a German mine and sank. A lifeboat let Violet's story continue.
She retired in 1950 and at the age of 83 died in 1971.
Sometimes it feels like we're watching Violet's life when we watch the stock market. We'll have a good run, then we hit an iceberg. We'll get aboard again and it feels like we're cruising the high seas only to run into a mine. Is it lucky or unlucky? If there is no lifeboat it almost certainly feels unlucky. We can make some hasty decisions without a lifeboat. Your financial plan is your lifeboat. That financial plan spells out goals and objectives. What are we trying to accomplish with our savings? When it feels like you're taking on water I'd suggest turning to that financial plan. It's the best thing to turn to in the midst of adversity.
What I didn't tell you about Violet is that she enjoyed two cruises around the world before she retired. Is that possible if she abandons her plan in that first run in with the HMS Hawke? What if she said 'I can't take the volatility of the seas?' Does she get to see the entire globe? Does she meet the man that she would later marry who also worked on the ship?
In the short term there will be icebergs and mines and other ships we run into...sometimes we call them recessions or inflation or pandemics. Sometimes they don't even have a name, they just happen. Before you set sail, make sure there is a lifeboat on board. If you need to take a look at your lifeboat, we're willing to talk.