There are so many examples of this in life but this morning as I walked into the office I was reminded of the fact that there are many things in our lives that seem very, very simple yet I know very little about. Take our elevator at the office as an example. Usually, this is all I think about:
Two buttons on the outside, a few more options once I step inside, and in a fancy place, maybe some music playing. We don’t have music. Maybe we should get some music. This morning when I walked in however, I was greeted with this:
I consider us relatively intelligent here at Baird. We have CFP’s, CFA’s, JD’s, CPA’s, in addition to other designations among our associates but we do not possess the skills to fix a broken motor on the elevator and even if we thought we’d try our hand at it to save a couple dollars we may have re-evaluated that decision when we opened this door. We called the professional for help. A guy by the name of Ed who has been servicing and working on elevators his whole career. He’s seen hundreds if not thousands of them. He has seen them evolve over time as the microprocessors inside have become the staple. He knows the players in the elevator world and he knows the components that work well and those that don’t. He can’t predict when the elevator will not work the way it is supposed to and he can’t promise that you won’t get stuck once in a while but he does know what it should do over time….what it is designed to do. He knows that more times than not it will take you where you want to go.
Ed and I aren’t much different. I live in the world of personal finance where it looks simple. Spend less than what you make. Save money for the future. Have a rainy-day fund. Match dollars today to the time horizons they’re associated with tomorrow. I was reminded by an elevator that it’s not always that simple.
We’re the professionals. We’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of financial plans. We’ve seen them evolve over time. We know the players in the world and we know the components that work well and those that don’t. We can’t predict when the market will seem like it’s not working the way it’s supposed to and we can’t promise that you won’t get stuck once in a while but we do know what it should do over time…what it’s designed to do. If you opened up the door to your personal wealth and you’re overwhelmed or need some help, don’t hesitate to call. We’d love to have a conversation about what it looks like when we help.