Life After Enough: ‘Happiness, Enough & Equanimity’
Happiness
Happiness corresponds to an economy, to calculations, to weighings. It needs varieties as much as contrasts (external comparisons- jds). Satisfaction (enough –jds) is as fatal to it as impediments.
Perpetual Euphoria, Pascal Bruckner, p37
This life and its purpose, prior to the French & American Revolutions and the ensuing imprimatur of ‘the pursuit of happiness,’ was never about ‘happiness.’.
The purpose of this life was salvation, character building, well being, and or earning one’s return – not happiness.
Now happiness and the pursuit thereof – is this culture’s mission. If anything we have a ‘duty to happiness’ even though we can’t define it and fall back on the analogy of pornography (I know it when I see it.)
Furthermore, rather than religion, the duty – the pursuit of happiness has become the opiate of not only the masses but the upper crust celebrity sniffing hyper class elitist asses.
This pursuit, in great part, according to Bruckner in Perpetual Euphoria, is a result of ‘progress.’
When we were hunter and gatherers – we acknowledged the food on the ground from a higher source (Hebrew National?). When we became farmers and ‘produced’ – the product became our doing – we acknowledged ourselves increasingly though we covered our bets and prayed for rain. With medicine’s advances we don’t have to rely on God’s will and grace but a Pfizer, Lilly or Merck and Obama Death Panel reprieves.
And deferred gratification – critical to character building, faith, and salvation - has been eradicated by credit and Viagra in the name of ‘happiness’ NOW.
Even religion has caste asunder ‘Gehenna (1) and Brimstone’ knowing happiness sells with the pitch of greater happiness in Heaven, the World to Come with just the purpose of ‘afterlife insurance’ premiums (church, synagogue dues etc.)
Hope is deferred disappointment
Ambrose Bierce
The sun will come out tomorrow
Tomorrow lyric from Annie
And if we presently in a state of ennui or unhappy – there the hope that happiness will be here ‘tomorrow.’
But as Krishnamurti wrote, ‘hope is (but) the absence of happiness.’ And please remember, Hope was a town in Arkansas that gave us Bill Clinton.
The pursuit of happiness and its pr flack hope are motivated by dissatisfaction resulting in the pursuit of more.
More & Happiness
Happiness is ‘getting what you want’ until what you wanted wasn’t ‘enough’ (again)
Schwartz’s Law
“More!”
The Answer given by the white collar villain (in the sequel to Wall Street) when he was asked for his response to: ‘everybody has a number, what is your number?’
The hope for and the delusional pursuit of happiness typically leads to the seeking more. More is an insatiable desire that paradoxically puts sustainable pleasure out of reach leading to perpetual dissatisfaction (2). More has become the means and the ends – a sign of ‘election.’ Yet, the pursuit of more, better, now for happiness usually becomes less, worse, later Worse, the resulting disappoint eventually may yield sequentially disillusion cascading to self recrimination (I am a failure).
There is no happiness only relative positioning (my spouse makes more than your spouse – or the Gaines Gravy train commercial ‘my dog’s bigger than your dog’) and momentary sensation.
More is never enough
Getting more of what you want becomes in time ‘not enough’ as more is a comparative outside in game dependent on externals unlike enough which is an internalized inside out process.
Equanimity & Enough
They’ll be plenty of peace and tranquility in the world to come
Paraphrasing Judaic Thought (not Spielberg Follywood Judaic thought)
Mussar is a thousand-year-old Jewish system for personal growth, specifically in the realm of character improvement. In Mussar, equanimity – rising above the good AND the bad – given life’s ups and downs is a more preferable ideal to pursue than happiness in our character building to earn our return (Teshuvah).
Consistent with Mussar thought, my take on the purpose of this life is to find meaning IN one’s life, continuing to complete one’s incompletions (soul curriculum) through faithful character building spiritualizng the material, materializing the spiritual inside out to earn one’s return with the equanimity of rising above the inevitable good and bad.
Easier said than done.
And that ain’t happiness.
Enough (aligning personal resources to achieve life and after life goals while healing financial anxiety putting money in its place to assist one’s transcending to their significance) is just a means to the inside out work of finding meaning In one’s life and or character building, salvation, etc. There may be a certain contentment yielded by enough from the storms and cultural onslaughts of 50,000 commercials of dissatisfaction, more, not enoughness. But Enough isn’t happiness. If anything enough forces a confrontation with ‘what next, meaning, making a difference, and or self definition’ in the midst of one’s spouse or insignificant other famished (3) saying, ‘for better or worse but not for lunch!’
Enough with equanimity doesn’t stop the storms, make for smooth sailing – but allows easier navigation towards one’s significance.
"When it's over, what will my life have been about" - Rabbi Harold Kushner
Enough - healing financial anxiety, puttin money in its place, to transcend to significance with equanimity....
(1) Gehenna - in the traditional Jewish view of the afterlife, Geihinnom is the place of punishment and purification (unlike hell there is a statute of limitations on the time spent in Gehenna)
(2) the Latin for 'enough' is satis. Thus dissatisfaction is 'not enough'
(3) think a state of being perplexed such that the heel of one's hand concurrently smacks one's forward as it leans backwards.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Strategic Planning for NAPFA Part II: The Future of Personal Financial Planning & NAPFA
Strategic Planning for NAPFA Part II:
The Future of Personal Financial Planning & NAPFA
Why Personal Financial Life Planning Exists:
• The healing of personal financial anxiety putting money in its place to transcend to one’s significance
• Client realizable comprehensive goal determination coordinated and aligned with orderly plans for the achievement of desired life (and afterlife) goals
Why NAPFA Exists:
• Professional Development: Qualified comprehensive fee only membership professional training and development in ‘managing goals under management’ for clients’ (which requires a planner to do their own business plan, personal financial plan, and personal financial life plan – and the cobbler’s kid having no shoes is no damn excuse)
• PROTECTION: Legislative Advocacy: Lobbying for the alignment of personal financial life planners’ and clients’ interests to be matched rather than in conflict with timely and full transparency
• CONNECTION: Assembling comprehensive fee only personal financial life planners into a critical mass of financial purchasing power for disintermediation (allowing product providers to created lower cost products for clients)
Half truth; whole lie
Talmud (what NAPFA has become)
NAPFA has become:
• A trade organization for the marketing of member’s services
• A bloated bureaucracy dependent more and more of product providers for revenues (like the old IAFP) to feed itself – even putting a wire house official on the planning committee
• Officers more concerned with photo opportunities in the media for their own practice development
NAPFA has lost:
• Its differentiation –
o in part to the good job it has done relative to fiduciary standards
o allowing AUM (assets under management) compensation to be classified as fee only planning (1) which makes the fee only planner really asset managers in fee only planner’s clothing blurring distinction and contrary to being on the client’s best interests.
• It’s gumption and leadership
o Failing to enforce professional standards of its leadership and members (sitting on conflicting financial planning boards)
o No professional public rebukes for outright membership plagiarism,
o Past indifference to the planner training in the past by the College for Financial Planning and its alleged product liability.
.
Hypocrisy: The ship’s captain lectures on navigation as the ship sinks
Saying
What The Personal Financial ‘Life’ Planning Market (Particulary The 90 Million Boomers Wants/Needs/Desires:
• Anxiety relief from the fear of ‘outliving their money’
• Meaning IN their life (presented as ‘making a difference, what next? meaning, ‘still cutting the mustard’
The NAPFA business (yes, business given the lack of professional integrity enforcement and the Monte Hall Let’s Make A Deal for Vendors trade organization orientation) needs to refocus on comprehensive personal financial life planning in the continuing training and development of planners to meet these needs.
As Gandhi said, ‘be your message.’ And Franklin said, ‘better done than said.’ Well, how many damn fee only planners talk, wink at life planning – but haven’t done it themselves, let alone have a business plan nor their own personal financial plan in writing. (The answer, ‘it’s in my head,’ doesn’t count for clients and it sure as hell don’t count for planners. ‘It’s in my head,” is a head case – not ‘being one’s message’ no matter how one massages it with spin)
And faux yakety yak kumbaya life touchie feeling life planning (a paid friend) with no results other than to defend one’s asset under management percentage fee with this feature that doesn’t deliver – doesn’t count either as personal financial life planning.
Without getting into the weeds too far – action is required – moving toward not just understanding. When Indiana Jones faced a chasm to get to the Holy Grail – and there was no, he took the leap of faith and made a first step and the bridge appeared. Well, the first step in life after enough comprehensive personal financial life planning is often a small one. For example, have the client take out his or her calendar and ask him or her to X out a regular afternoon date for 4 hours for the next 3 months (otherwise, their life planning transition will be the leftovers – and you know where leftovers eventually go usually in the trash). That afternoon 1 day a week, 4 hours a week, is to try all those someday things they have put off and wanted to do. But here is the kicker, they need permission to NOT be great at whatever it is.
One step: – no tom toms, self esteem, abandonment or my mother or father’s fault – one step – moving toward, climbing the mountain rather than mining the mountain.
In conjunction with monetizing the fear of outliving one’s money – the personal financial life planner needs to assist at getting to the heart of the matter: what next – finding meaning IN one’s life, making a difference and still cutting the mustard.
To recreate NAPFA, the above differentiations will require a different NAPFA, even cannibalization of itself, and more importantly disgorgement of assets to the regions, and a new revenue sharing arrangement ala states rights and federalism.
• Forget withering, structure follows mission. Zero base budget NAPFA to its above new limited role, give it two times its operating costs and disgorge the rest to the regions on a per member basis.
• Thereafter, the dues split should be 80% to the regions with NAPFA National keeping 20%. The whole emphasis of the regions is professional development and study groups.
People forget in their revisionist self serving history of NAPFA, it was SIFA that created NAPFA. Period – end of sentence. SIFA has, in Russian terms, been De-Stalinized.
At SIFA there was a structure to our meetings – study groups.
• Each member had to have a specialty to share with the group. This allowed more time for each planner to focus on process and less on content. Thus, each member’s time was ‘leveraged.’
• The meetings were a round robin – going through each area sequentially
1. Practice management ideas
2. Process ideas and techniques
3. Strategies and tactics
4. Content area discussion
5. Deals
6. Marketing ideas
7. Presentations
8. Richard Lee’s current squeeze
• We created a federation – a consortium amongst ourselves as such that if something could have happened to one another – there was someone ‘on call’ if necessary
As far as conventions are concerned (go to meeting doc com is probably preferable to belly bumping) NAPFA National is on its own. It’s a profit center that stands on its own.
Half truth; whole lies
Talmud
NAPFA’s differentiation is gone – but the need – the thirst for meaning IN one’s life and reducing the fear of outliving one’s resources (notice not just money) is greater than ever. Reinventing NAPFA isn’t just necessary it’s a matter of survival and incremental change and pouring new whine (on purpose) into old sheaths (present structure) is being DOS in a a Windows 7 world.
Dithering, dawdling, more committee meetings, self congratulatory insulated back slapping won’t cut it.
Above the crowd or just faceless in the crowd – that’s the decision
(1) Assets Under Management is contrary – the antithesis of fee only comprehensive financial life planning putting the client and the planner in conflict. As Maslow said, if all we know is a hammer everything will look like a nail. Unconsciously or unconsciously, assets under management compensation gravitates the focus of the planner to ‘more’ even when a lower rate of return with less risk would make the goal. Other goals – providing for long term care, income adequacy upon disability etc – become second class citizens in the practice. Fee only comprehensive personal financial life planning is about managing goals NOT managing assets. AUM is just a Trojan horse using personal financial planning as a vehicle to be an investment manager in personal financial planner’s clothing. If NAPFA membership is to be continued for AUM compensated planners, these planners should have a different NAPFA membership designation and no vote in elections.
The Future of Personal Financial Planning & NAPFA
Why Personal Financial Life Planning Exists:
• The healing of personal financial anxiety putting money in its place to transcend to one’s significance
• Client realizable comprehensive goal determination coordinated and aligned with orderly plans for the achievement of desired life (and afterlife) goals
Why NAPFA Exists:
• Professional Development: Qualified comprehensive fee only membership professional training and development in ‘managing goals under management’ for clients’ (which requires a planner to do their own business plan, personal financial plan, and personal financial life plan – and the cobbler’s kid having no shoes is no damn excuse)
• PROTECTION: Legislative Advocacy: Lobbying for the alignment of personal financial life planners’ and clients’ interests to be matched rather than in conflict with timely and full transparency
• CONNECTION: Assembling comprehensive fee only personal financial life planners into a critical mass of financial purchasing power for disintermediation (allowing product providers to created lower cost products for clients)
Half truth; whole lie
Talmud (what NAPFA has become)
NAPFA has become:
• A trade organization for the marketing of member’s services
• A bloated bureaucracy dependent more and more of product providers for revenues (like the old IAFP) to feed itself – even putting a wire house official on the planning committee
• Officers more concerned with photo opportunities in the media for their own practice development
NAPFA has lost:
• Its differentiation –
o in part to the good job it has done relative to fiduciary standards
o allowing AUM (assets under management) compensation to be classified as fee only planning (1) which makes the fee only planner really asset managers in fee only planner’s clothing blurring distinction and contrary to being on the client’s best interests.
• It’s gumption and leadership
o Failing to enforce professional standards of its leadership and members (sitting on conflicting financial planning boards)
o No professional public rebukes for outright membership plagiarism,
o Past indifference to the planner training in the past by the College for Financial Planning and its alleged product liability.
.
Hypocrisy: The ship’s captain lectures on navigation as the ship sinks
Saying
What The Personal Financial ‘Life’ Planning Market (Particulary The 90 Million Boomers Wants/Needs/Desires:
• Anxiety relief from the fear of ‘outliving their money’
• Meaning IN their life (presented as ‘making a difference, what next? meaning, ‘still cutting the mustard’
The NAPFA business (yes, business given the lack of professional integrity enforcement and the Monte Hall Let’s Make A Deal for Vendors trade organization orientation) needs to refocus on comprehensive personal financial life planning in the continuing training and development of planners to meet these needs.
As Gandhi said, ‘be your message.’ And Franklin said, ‘better done than said.’ Well, how many damn fee only planners talk, wink at life planning – but haven’t done it themselves, let alone have a business plan nor their own personal financial plan in writing. (The answer, ‘it’s in my head,’ doesn’t count for clients and it sure as hell don’t count for planners. ‘It’s in my head,” is a head case – not ‘being one’s message’ no matter how one massages it with spin)
And faux yakety yak kumbaya life touchie feeling life planning (a paid friend) with no results other than to defend one’s asset under management percentage fee with this feature that doesn’t deliver – doesn’t count either as personal financial life planning.
Without getting into the weeds too far – action is required – moving toward not just understanding. When Indiana Jones faced a chasm to get to the Holy Grail – and there was no, he took the leap of faith and made a first step and the bridge appeared. Well, the first step in life after enough comprehensive personal financial life planning is often a small one. For example, have the client take out his or her calendar and ask him or her to X out a regular afternoon date for 4 hours for the next 3 months (otherwise, their life planning transition will be the leftovers – and you know where leftovers eventually go usually in the trash). That afternoon 1 day a week, 4 hours a week, is to try all those someday things they have put off and wanted to do. But here is the kicker, they need permission to NOT be great at whatever it is.
One step: – no tom toms, self esteem, abandonment or my mother or father’s fault – one step – moving toward, climbing the mountain rather than mining the mountain.
In conjunction with monetizing the fear of outliving one’s money – the personal financial life planner needs to assist at getting to the heart of the matter: what next – finding meaning IN one’s life, making a difference and still cutting the mustard.
To recreate NAPFA, the above differentiations will require a different NAPFA, even cannibalization of itself, and more importantly disgorgement of assets to the regions, and a new revenue sharing arrangement ala states rights and federalism.
• Forget withering, structure follows mission. Zero base budget NAPFA to its above new limited role, give it two times its operating costs and disgorge the rest to the regions on a per member basis.
• Thereafter, the dues split should be 80% to the regions with NAPFA National keeping 20%. The whole emphasis of the regions is professional development and study groups.
People forget in their revisionist self serving history of NAPFA, it was SIFA that created NAPFA. Period – end of sentence. SIFA has, in Russian terms, been De-Stalinized.
At SIFA there was a structure to our meetings – study groups.
• Each member had to have a specialty to share with the group. This allowed more time for each planner to focus on process and less on content. Thus, each member’s time was ‘leveraged.’
• The meetings were a round robin – going through each area sequentially
1. Practice management ideas
2. Process ideas and techniques
3. Strategies and tactics
4. Content area discussion
5. Deals
6. Marketing ideas
7. Presentations
8. Richard Lee’s current squeeze
• We created a federation – a consortium amongst ourselves as such that if something could have happened to one another – there was someone ‘on call’ if necessary
As far as conventions are concerned (go to meeting doc com is probably preferable to belly bumping) NAPFA National is on its own. It’s a profit center that stands on its own.
Half truth; whole lies
Talmud
NAPFA’s differentiation is gone – but the need – the thirst for meaning IN one’s life and reducing the fear of outliving one’s resources (notice not just money) is greater than ever. Reinventing NAPFA isn’t just necessary it’s a matter of survival and incremental change and pouring new whine (on purpose) into old sheaths (present structure) is being DOS in a a Windows 7 world.
Dithering, dawdling, more committee meetings, self congratulatory insulated back slapping won’t cut it.
Above the crowd or just faceless in the crowd – that’s the decision
(1) Assets Under Management is contrary – the antithesis of fee only comprehensive financial life planning putting the client and the planner in conflict. As Maslow said, if all we know is a hammer everything will look like a nail. Unconsciously or unconsciously, assets under management compensation gravitates the focus of the planner to ‘more’ even when a lower rate of return with less risk would make the goal. Other goals – providing for long term care, income adequacy upon disability etc – become second class citizens in the practice. Fee only comprehensive personal financial life planning is about managing goals NOT managing assets. AUM is just a Trojan horse using personal financial planning as a vehicle to be an investment manager in personal financial planner’s clothing. If NAPFA membership is to be continued for AUM compensated planners, these planners should have a different NAPFA membership designation and no vote in elections.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
The Future of Personal Financial Planning: Personal Financial ‘Life’ Planning
The Future of Personal Financial Planning:
Personal Financial ‘Life’ Planning
(Planning The Strategic Plan of NAPFA (The National Association of Personal Financial Advisers (1) (from Jim Schwartz, Co Founder NAPFA who resigned years ago) )– Part I
An Open Letter To NAPFA ‘Planning Committee’ (Which Should Not Have Wirehouse, Bureaucrats as members – and does)
The old shall dreams and the youth shall see visions
Book of Joel
Shalom
It has come to my attention from a few of you, given that unlike most planners, my practice was almost 50% strategic planning (managing by objectives tied to compensation) and recognized by George Odiorne (one of the fathers of planning) for the application of MBO to personal financial planning, that despite my resignation from NAPFA (you still owe me an apology on the College for their Own Financial Planning’s(2), I actually have done both sides of planning - personal financial 'life' planning and corporate planning.
1) It ain't rocket science but mission statements (what can be) are often confused with vision statements (what should be) and devolve to motherhood statements and worthless bromides
2) missions and visions need to be defined not only for what it is (who, what, when, how, why) but what it is not (which is even more critical). Without the 'is not' all you get is 'snot' and a large bill from corporate planners who take off your watch tell you what time it is and send a big bill and maybe good lunch and a lot of flattery.
3) planning is done by the business not for it - or it fails.
4) (the plan) must be tied into compensation - short, long, intermediate - or it will be just another pretty plan up on the shelf that everyone can point to and forget.
5) Lastly, the bureaucracy IS NOT involved in the mission, vision, nor ground rules. They are administrators not policy makers and managers. “Sorry, if I stepped on someone's damn TURF” to paraphrase TNA Tag Team Wrestling Champs ‘Beer Money.’
NAPFA (created by the Society of Independent Financial Advisors – least there be revisionist history) originated as a professional organization with the ability for disintermediation (getting product sponsors to create products without commissions –increasing potential performance for clients). NAPFA has lost its differentiation - especially if there is victory now on the fiduciary standard for financial advisors. It has become a trade organization – marketing members’ services - masquerading as a professional organization.
Philosophy Guirjeff theorized (his Law of Seven) that that which we intend becomea the exact opposite in time. And so, has NAPFA in my opinion.
And the real real real question facing today’s boomers (all 60 million+ of them), in particular, - however presented "make a difference, what next, etc.' is Meaning. The question is enabling finding meaning IN one's life not the meaning of life or More, More, More (reinforced by assets under management compensation rather managing goals). And lanners have to do this for themselves first - or as Gandhi said 'be your message' or Franklin said, 'better done than said.'
One of my favorite questions for potential clients to ask a planner is ‘do you have a personal financial plan yourself you can share? Do you do business planning for your company? May I see a copy? (My guess is out of 100 – less than 5 – the ship’s captain lecturing on navigation as the ship sinks???)
So as one who retired at 46 (now 61) am I eating my own chili?
My missions: - 1) perPETuation(c) (no dog before his time, extending the quality of K9 life - save a life and you save the world - Talmud - 1 dog at a time -Schwartz) see my book Trust Me; I'm Not A Veterinarian (no you are not getting the whole mission or vision and the is nots –given the plagiarism I’ve experiences in the past by NAPFA members who weren’t even rebuked) and www.next2kin.org
2) reJEWvination(c) Jews of Meaning (www.jewsofmeaning.org)- finding meaning IN one's
life through Judaism
3) ENOUGH(sm) - healing financial anxiety, puttin' money in its place to transcend to significance (c) can't wait to see who else rips me off without attribution (which is okay but they usually get it wrong) see my blog which updates the enough book
healingfinancialanxiety.blogspot.com
Of course, a certain chairperson (who forgets who gave her the push originally in NAPFA leadership) can dismiss this all - first ignore (which she has), then ridicule, and finally adopt. Someone once said there is an inverse relationship between competency and elevation to leadership posts in trade/professional organizations. I have watched over and over and over again, the ascension of so called planners who use NAPFA for practice development and self congratulatory photo ops of themselves
This planner did what he preached - how many planners can say that let alone that they aligned personal financial resources and life goals for themselves?
It is time for reinventing NAPFA from scratch. PART II next week
(1) The College for its Own Financial Planning (subsequently sold to a profit making organization) not only trained planners in incorrect math methodology for retirement (30,000 planners times on average say 50 clients – you do the math) stonewalling to prevent product liability, but also allegedly created structural barriers to trade (anti-trust activity) using tax exempt status at the time. NAPFA and its weenie leadership was silent rather than professional. I was vindicated by Forbes, Barons, Worth etc and some of the most important mathematicians in the country. And NAPFA and its leadership dwaddled, dithered – and even used their newsletter to deflect calling me a terrorist while it’s chairman sat on the then College controlled Certified Financial Planning Board.
(2) NAPFA has allowed plagiarism without recourse. I don’t mind my work being referenced. Worse some have used my work – and still get it wrong.
Personal Financial ‘Life’ Planning
(Planning The Strategic Plan of NAPFA (The National Association of Personal Financial Advisers (1) (from Jim Schwartz, Co Founder NAPFA who resigned years ago) )– Part I
An Open Letter To NAPFA ‘Planning Committee’ (Which Should Not Have Wirehouse, Bureaucrats as members – and does)
The old shall dreams and the youth shall see visions
Book of Joel
Shalom
It has come to my attention from a few of you, given that unlike most planners, my practice was almost 50% strategic planning (managing by objectives tied to compensation) and recognized by George Odiorne (one of the fathers of planning) for the application of MBO to personal financial planning, that despite my resignation from NAPFA (you still owe me an apology on the College for their Own Financial Planning’s(2), I actually have done both sides of planning - personal financial 'life' planning and corporate planning.
1) It ain't rocket science but mission statements (what can be) are often confused with vision statements (what should be) and devolve to motherhood statements and worthless bromides
2) missions and visions need to be defined not only for what it is (who, what, when, how, why) but what it is not (which is even more critical). Without the 'is not' all you get is 'snot' and a large bill from corporate planners who take off your watch tell you what time it is and send a big bill and maybe good lunch and a lot of flattery.
3) planning is done by the business not for it - or it fails.
4) (the plan) must be tied into compensation - short, long, intermediate - or it will be just another pretty plan up on the shelf that everyone can point to and forget.
5) Lastly, the bureaucracy IS NOT involved in the mission, vision, nor ground rules. They are administrators not policy makers and managers. “Sorry, if I stepped on someone's damn TURF” to paraphrase TNA Tag Team Wrestling Champs ‘Beer Money.’
NAPFA (created by the Society of Independent Financial Advisors – least there be revisionist history) originated as a professional organization with the ability for disintermediation (getting product sponsors to create products without commissions –increasing potential performance for clients). NAPFA has lost its differentiation - especially if there is victory now on the fiduciary standard for financial advisors. It has become a trade organization – marketing members’ services - masquerading as a professional organization.
Philosophy Guirjeff theorized (his Law of Seven) that that which we intend becomea the exact opposite in time. And so, has NAPFA in my opinion.
And the real real real question facing today’s boomers (all 60 million+ of them), in particular, - however presented "make a difference, what next, etc.' is Meaning. The question is enabling finding meaning IN one's life not the meaning of life or More, More, More (reinforced by assets under management compensation rather managing goals). And lanners have to do this for themselves first - or as Gandhi said 'be your message' or Franklin said, 'better done than said.'
One of my favorite questions for potential clients to ask a planner is ‘do you have a personal financial plan yourself you can share? Do you do business planning for your company? May I see a copy? (My guess is out of 100 – less than 5 – the ship’s captain lecturing on navigation as the ship sinks???)
So as one who retired at 46 (now 61) am I eating my own chili?
My missions: - 1) perPETuation(c) (no dog before his time, extending the quality of K9 life - save a life and you save the world - Talmud - 1 dog at a time -Schwartz) see my book Trust Me; I'm Not A Veterinarian (no you are not getting the whole mission or vision and the is nots –given the plagiarism I’ve experiences in the past by NAPFA members who weren’t even rebuked) and www.next2kin.org
2) reJEWvination(c) Jews of Meaning (www.jewsofmeaning.org)- finding meaning IN one's
life through Judaism
3) ENOUGH(sm) - healing financial anxiety, puttin' money in its place to transcend to significance (c) can't wait to see who else rips me off without attribution (which is okay but they usually get it wrong) see my blog which updates the enough book
healingfinancialanxiety.blogspot.com
Of course, a certain chairperson (who forgets who gave her the push originally in NAPFA leadership) can dismiss this all - first ignore (which she has), then ridicule, and finally adopt. Someone once said there is an inverse relationship between competency and elevation to leadership posts in trade/professional organizations. I have watched over and over and over again, the ascension of so called planners who use NAPFA for practice development and self congratulatory photo ops of themselves
This planner did what he preached - how many planners can say that let alone that they aligned personal financial resources and life goals for themselves?
It is time for reinventing NAPFA from scratch. PART II next week
(1) The College for its Own Financial Planning (subsequently sold to a profit making organization) not only trained planners in incorrect math methodology for retirement (30,000 planners times on average say 50 clients – you do the math) stonewalling to prevent product liability, but also allegedly created structural barriers to trade (anti-trust activity) using tax exempt status at the time. NAPFA and its weenie leadership was silent rather than professional. I was vindicated by Forbes, Barons, Worth etc and some of the most important mathematicians in the country. And NAPFA and its leadership dwaddled, dithered – and even used their newsletter to deflect calling me a terrorist while it’s chairman sat on the then College controlled Certified Financial Planning Board.
(2) NAPFA has allowed plagiarism without recourse. I don’t mind my work being referenced. Worse some have used my work – and still get it wrong.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Liberal Greed & More vs Enough
Liberal Greed (i.e. Theft)in reference to More vs Enough
Stipulating to my bias that enough is preferable to more (1), the question of greed has become political rather than definitional.
When there is excess accumulation due to voluntary exchange creating value – this is not greed but rather usefulness – utilitarian. The excess accumulation may be the intention but it is a consequence. This ‘excess accumulation’ is not greed no matter how the liberal Obama redistribution of wealth socialist collectivists wish to recharacterize it. If anything, the characterization of accumulation via voluntary exchanges as ‘greed’ is just a smoke screen rationalizaton by this liberal Obama redistribution of wealth socialist collectivist to sanitize their intention: theft without voluntary exchange.
This theft is disguised as entitlement while stoking the flames of coveting and envy. But theft is theft is theft.
And excess accumulation, unless the result of coercion or deception, but the result voluntary exchanges that produces value is not greed.
Per the above, the invocation of greed is just the mantra of sneak thieves – who steal in the middle of night – sort of like Obamacare, the Cornhusker kickback, forcing a bill through without time to examine it. And the aforemention actions are theft and greed – using coercion and deception for the excess accumulation of stolen power.
(1) More better now has a way of becoming less, worse, later. See my blog: healingfinancialanxiety.blogspot.com
Stipulating to my bias that enough is preferable to more (1), the question of greed has become political rather than definitional.
When there is excess accumulation due to voluntary exchange creating value – this is not greed but rather usefulness – utilitarian. The excess accumulation may be the intention but it is a consequence. This ‘excess accumulation’ is not greed no matter how the liberal Obama redistribution of wealth socialist collectivists wish to recharacterize it. If anything, the characterization of accumulation via voluntary exchanges as ‘greed’ is just a smoke screen rationalizaton by this liberal Obama redistribution of wealth socialist collectivist to sanitize their intention: theft without voluntary exchange.
This theft is disguised as entitlement while stoking the flames of coveting and envy. But theft is theft is theft.
And excess accumulation, unless the result of coercion or deception, but the result voluntary exchanges that produces value is not greed.
Per the above, the invocation of greed is just the mantra of sneak thieves – who steal in the middle of night – sort of like Obamacare, the Cornhusker kickback, forcing a bill through without time to examine it. And the aforemention actions are theft and greed – using coercion and deception for the excess accumulation of stolen power.
(1) More better now has a way of becoming less, worse, later. See my blog: healingfinancialanxiety.blogspot.com
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Walking-Away Money: What’s Your Number? & Schwartzie's Law
Walking-Away Money: What’s Your Number? & Schwartzie's Law
The #1 ranked personal finance article on February 15, 2011 in the The Wall Street Journal Online’s Personal Finance section was titled, “Walking-Away Money: What’s Your Number?” polling the answers from Asian countries as well as India.
The South Korea the ‘walking away number” was the high of $5.1 million while Indonesia was the low of $3 million to walk away from one’s job (or in American colloquial slang ‘to take this job and shove it.’)However given ‘their number attained,’ such that one is no longer ‘financially beholden’ to the job, the article stops short failing to ask the pertinent follow up questions to what is your walk away number:
· What would you walk away to?
· Will this number bring me the implicit unquestioned desire of ‘happiness’ and or allow the pursuit of happiness?
Be careful what you ask the gods for they may grant it
Oscar Wilde
Ironically, The Walk Away Money – take this job and shove it – once attained typically causes other problems. (Solve problem #1 and problem #2 is invariably promoted!)
Typically the first manifestation is the avoidance (which conceals the problem of ‘what next’) as observed and revealed in the following behaviors including:
· Seeking a cushion to the walk away number ‘just in case’ Increasing the walk away number
· Doing all those ‘someday things’ – which in short time lose their luster as their spouse complains: ‘for better or worse but not for lunch’
We foolishly pair ‘the walk away number’ with ‘happiness.’ We chase ‘the walk away number’ like a dog chasing his tail or Charlie Sheen. And worse, we engage in the chase typically without calibrating the amount specific to our financial goals – other than motherhood statements masking the underlying amorphous unattainable ‘more’. The unquestioned assumption that the walk away number will yield happiness is the grand self delusional safari.
Happiness per Gilbert in Stumbling to Happiness is merely a relative measure comparing to others (externally) for our worthiness. This relative happiness is ‘my husband makes a $100 more a week than my sister’s spouse’ per the H L Mencken analogy. Pascal Bruckner in Perpetual Euphorial happiness is a ‘pitiless idol’ promising self fulfillment which ironically is delusional felicity marked by folly creating its own miseries not the least of which is derived from the expectation of happiness (‘hoax and chump change’).
And the circle _______ (you fill in the blank) remains unbroken.
In reality this folly of happiness is ‘getting what you want’ until what you wanted wasn’t ‘enough’ (again). (Schwartzie’s Law)
Therefore, ‘the walk away number,’ does not- cannot yield happiness. However it may yield greater choice if one knows where they are walking toward…
We have to have free will. We have no other choice
Isaac Singer
Yogi Berra said, ‘if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.’ The walk away number is half baked unless one knows where he is walking toward. Invariably, this is a question of meaning IN one’s life.
Unanswered, the walk away number attained will just anesthetize for a while until a new and improved walk away number is rationalized, justified, and substituted and so that the pursuit of more can divert attention from ‘the hole in the soul.’
In Torah, Abraham walked ahead of God while Noah walked side by side.
Walking toward, walking with, and walking ahead are the questions of Enough – and not just financially.
In the ‘mean’time, determine ‘enough’ specifically, what you are walking toward with equanimity (rising above the good and the bad as Mussar masters would define) – in ‘your walks of life.’
Otherwise, as Fonzi in ‘HAPPY Days’ would say while grabbing one handed his privates, “You want your number? I got your number from Select Comfort.”
Jim Schwartz
A Man of Dog ©, K9 Concierge ©, Pawduciary©
Protection & Connection
(and sometimes, Personal Financial Life Philosopher)
The #1 ranked personal finance article on February 15, 2011 in the The Wall Street Journal Online’s Personal Finance section was titled, “Walking-Away Money: What’s Your Number?” polling the answers from Asian countries as well as India.
The South Korea the ‘walking away number” was the high of $5.1 million while Indonesia was the low of $3 million to walk away from one’s job (or in American colloquial slang ‘to take this job and shove it.’)However given ‘their number attained,’ such that one is no longer ‘financially beholden’ to the job, the article stops short failing to ask the pertinent follow up questions to what is your walk away number:
· What would you walk away to?
· Will this number bring me the implicit unquestioned desire of ‘happiness’ and or allow the pursuit of happiness?
Be careful what you ask the gods for they may grant it
Oscar Wilde
Ironically, The Walk Away Money – take this job and shove it – once attained typically causes other problems. (Solve problem #1 and problem #2 is invariably promoted!)
Typically the first manifestation is the avoidance (which conceals the problem of ‘what next’) as observed and revealed in the following behaviors including:
· Seeking a cushion to the walk away number ‘just in case’ Increasing the walk away number
· Doing all those ‘someday things’ – which in short time lose their luster as their spouse complains: ‘for better or worse but not for lunch’
We foolishly pair ‘the walk away number’ with ‘happiness.’ We chase ‘the walk away number’ like a dog chasing his tail or Charlie Sheen. And worse, we engage in the chase typically without calibrating the amount specific to our financial goals – other than motherhood statements masking the underlying amorphous unattainable ‘more’. The unquestioned assumption that the walk away number will yield happiness is the grand self delusional safari.
Happiness per Gilbert in Stumbling to Happiness is merely a relative measure comparing to others (externally) for our worthiness. This relative happiness is ‘my husband makes a $100 more a week than my sister’s spouse’ per the H L Mencken analogy. Pascal Bruckner in Perpetual Euphorial happiness is a ‘pitiless idol’ promising self fulfillment which ironically is delusional felicity marked by folly creating its own miseries not the least of which is derived from the expectation of happiness (‘hoax and chump change’).
And the circle _______ (you fill in the blank) remains unbroken.
In reality this folly of happiness is ‘getting what you want’ until what you wanted wasn’t ‘enough’ (again). (Schwartzie’s Law)
Therefore, ‘the walk away number,’ does not- cannot yield happiness. However it may yield greater choice if one knows where they are walking toward…
We have to have free will. We have no other choice
Isaac Singer
Yogi Berra said, ‘if you don’t know where you are going any road will take you there.’ The walk away number is half baked unless one knows where he is walking toward. Invariably, this is a question of meaning IN one’s life.
Unanswered, the walk away number attained will just anesthetize for a while until a new and improved walk away number is rationalized, justified, and substituted and so that the pursuit of more can divert attention from ‘the hole in the soul.’
In Torah, Abraham walked ahead of God while Noah walked side by side.
Walking toward, walking with, and walking ahead are the questions of Enough – and not just financially.
In the ‘mean’time, determine ‘enough’ specifically, what you are walking toward with equanimity (rising above the good and the bad as Mussar masters would define) – in ‘your walks of life.’
Otherwise, as Fonzi in ‘HAPPY Days’ would say while grabbing one handed his privates, “You want your number? I got your number from Select Comfort.”
Jim Schwartz
A Man of Dog ©, K9 Concierge ©, Pawduciary©
Protection & Connection
(and sometimes, Personal Financial Life Philosopher)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Real Story of the Black Sheep: More vs Enough
The Real Story of the Black Sheep: More vs Enough
Fair is ‘fowl’
And ‘fowl’ is fair
MacBeth Max (My graduated Standard Poodle – who got 5 birds on the fly)
The typical story and definition of ‘black sheep’ (or Schwartz sheep for those of Yiddish or German speaking persuasion) is that of the outcast. The black sheep is the one who causes shame or embarrassment because of his or her DEVIATION from the accepted standards/norms/premises/assumptions (questioned or unquestioned) of the prevailing group or culture.
This Black/Schwartz Sheep metaphor originated with the fact that ‘black sheep’ were less valuable than white ones because it was more difficult to dye their wool different colors. In addition, the color black in the 16th century was considered a mark of the devil.
Between the colloquial connotation of ‘odd/outcast’ and the former ‘devil’ suggestion – the phrase black sheep has taken on the implication and association of unwanted outcast.
Now, the prevailing premise of our culture is MORE.
Proof: just for one day watch and count the advertisements on TV, radio, the web, and newspapers that are about MORE and LACK. The ads are about dissatisfaction (not enough) and therefore you either lack or need more. Then count the amount of ads that are about enough. (There aren’t any – enough doesn’t sell.)
Enough is a ‘black sheep’ in our culture. The Latin for enough is satis which forms the basis of the word satisfactory is ‘just’ a C on a report card – merely adequate. Enough and adequate are settling like you did with your second spouse fearing dying alone. Enough is mediocre – blah – no gusto – resigned to bronze rather than going for the gold.
Enough is temporarily elevated when the market bombardiers in 1987 and 2008 only to fade as a distant regrettable memory (I should have bought at the bottom). Spontaneous regression to the ‘mean’ (More) returns with its external comparisons (how did I do relative to the Dow, S&P etc.?) instead of comparisons to definitive personal financial life goals irrespective of the Dow, S&P etc. And the ‘Hog’ of more, better, now recycles into less, worse, later without the Harley.
Returning to the metaphor of the black/Schwartz sheep story, let’s reframe it (changing the filter not revisionism).
The farmer took excellent care of his sheep – they thought - because ‘he loves us.’ Rather, with the sheep’s wool gathering days coming to conclusion, and lamb chops providing more net per pound to the farmer, he was fattening them up – giving the ‘devoted sheep’ More. The black, Schwartz sheep figured out the farmer’s game on In Your Facebook’s Shear Knowledge Group Bulletin Board. And despite the taunts (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah hey hey, goodbye), the black sheep, the odd- the eccentric – the embarrassment, escaped.
More, more, more of the farmer’s feed – would only become more, more, more lamb chops at the expense of the black sheep’s life. And the black sheep didn’t want to sacrifice what he needed for what he didn’t need as more, better, now – would become less, later, worse (him being a ‘Lamb Chop’ without Shari Lewis’ hand up (well that’s another story). (1) At worse, he would get a ‘Charlie Horse’ on the run.
While the sheep got lamb chopped, the black sheep, escaped (on the lamb) exhibiting ‘his chops.’ (2)
Thus things are not always what they seem, the black sheep (the eccentric, the odd, the embarrassment) who had ‘enough’ flourishes while the mutton head MOREons get sheared, seared and smoked to imperfection.
(1). – Gives new meaning to being be(hind)holden. Shari Lewis, hottie hand puppeteer – at least to a then 8 year old, of Lamb Chop & Charlie Horse.
(2). – Talent
Fair is ‘fowl’
And ‘fowl’ is fair
MacBeth Max (My graduated Standard Poodle – who got 5 birds on the fly)
The typical story and definition of ‘black sheep’ (or Schwartz sheep for those of Yiddish or German speaking persuasion) is that of the outcast. The black sheep is the one who causes shame or embarrassment because of his or her DEVIATION from the accepted standards/norms/premises/assumptions (questioned or unquestioned) of the prevailing group or culture.
This Black/Schwartz Sheep metaphor originated with the fact that ‘black sheep’ were less valuable than white ones because it was more difficult to dye their wool different colors. In addition, the color black in the 16th century was considered a mark of the devil.
Between the colloquial connotation of ‘odd/outcast’ and the former ‘devil’ suggestion – the phrase black sheep has taken on the implication and association of unwanted outcast.
Now, the prevailing premise of our culture is MORE.
Proof: just for one day watch and count the advertisements on TV, radio, the web, and newspapers that are about MORE and LACK. The ads are about dissatisfaction (not enough) and therefore you either lack or need more. Then count the amount of ads that are about enough. (There aren’t any – enough doesn’t sell.)
Enough is a ‘black sheep’ in our culture. The Latin for enough is satis which forms the basis of the word satisfactory is ‘just’ a C on a report card – merely adequate. Enough and adequate are settling like you did with your second spouse fearing dying alone. Enough is mediocre – blah – no gusto – resigned to bronze rather than going for the gold.
Enough is temporarily elevated when the market bombardiers in 1987 and 2008 only to fade as a distant regrettable memory (I should have bought at the bottom). Spontaneous regression to the ‘mean’ (More) returns with its external comparisons (how did I do relative to the Dow, S&P etc.?) instead of comparisons to definitive personal financial life goals irrespective of the Dow, S&P etc. And the ‘Hog’ of more, better, now recycles into less, worse, later without the Harley.
Returning to the metaphor of the black/Schwartz sheep story, let’s reframe it (changing the filter not revisionism).
The farmer took excellent care of his sheep – they thought - because ‘he loves us.’ Rather, with the sheep’s wool gathering days coming to conclusion, and lamb chops providing more net per pound to the farmer, he was fattening them up – giving the ‘devoted sheep’ More. The black, Schwartz sheep figured out the farmer’s game on In Your Facebook’s Shear Knowledge Group Bulletin Board. And despite the taunts (nah, nah, nah, nah, nah hey hey, goodbye), the black sheep, the odd- the eccentric – the embarrassment, escaped.
More, more, more of the farmer’s feed – would only become more, more, more lamb chops at the expense of the black sheep’s life. And the black sheep didn’t want to sacrifice what he needed for what he didn’t need as more, better, now – would become less, later, worse (him being a ‘Lamb Chop’ without Shari Lewis’ hand up (well that’s another story). (1) At worse, he would get a ‘Charlie Horse’ on the run.
While the sheep got lamb chopped, the black sheep, escaped (on the lamb) exhibiting ‘his chops.’ (2)
Thus things are not always what they seem, the black sheep (the eccentric, the odd, the embarrassment) who had ‘enough’ flourishes while the mutton head MOREons get sheared, seared and smoked to imperfection.
(1). – Gives new meaning to being be(hind)holden. Shari Lewis, hottie hand puppeteer – at least to a then 8 year old, of Lamb Chop & Charlie Horse.
(2). – Talent
Monday, January 31, 2011
What Next Part II: The What Next Inventory
WHAT NEXT INVENTORY
The purpose of this 'What Next Inventory' is to assess the feasibility of whatever 'what nexts' you may be considering having completed the previous exercises. However, unlike balance sheets called 'Net Worth' - this inventory reflects 'net worth' regardless of monetary accounting.
Hopefully, this tool will assist and minimize spontaneous regression to more-onic hardwired acculturated behavior.
ASSETS FACTOR LIABILITIES
(you possess or not)
ADAPTABILITY
HEALTH
EDUCATION
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS
TALENTS/CAPABILITIES
TRAITS
RELATIONSHIPS
FRIENDS/ENEMIES
CONTACTS
BEHOLDEN
(YOU OWE, THEY OWE YOU)
INTERESTS
LIABILITY CONTINGENCY PLANNING
LIABILITY CAUSE P(1) S(1) MINIMIZE PREVENT
ASSET ENHANCEMENT PLANNING
ACTION STEP START FINISH WHO COST/RESOURCES
WHAT NEXT STATEMENT
WHAT NEXT (IS NOT) STATEMENT (WHAT YOU ARE EXCLUDING)
1) P = probability of the cause, S = seriousness of the problem; typically one contingency plans for those problems with a probability and seriousness of medium or above. Thus a low probability and high seriousness, for example - a hurricane - would be 'insured' (transferring the risk). Thus, the ranking is low, medium or high
The purpose of this 'What Next Inventory' is to assess the feasibility of whatever 'what nexts' you may be considering having completed the previous exercises. However, unlike balance sheets called 'Net Worth' - this inventory reflects 'net worth' regardless of monetary accounting.
Hopefully, this tool will assist and minimize spontaneous regression to more-onic hardwired acculturated behavior.
ASSETS FACTOR LIABILITIES
(you possess or not)
ADAPTABILITY
HEALTH
EDUCATION
KNOWLEDGE/SKILLS
TALENTS/CAPABILITIES
TRAITS
RELATIONSHIPS
FRIENDS/ENEMIES
CONTACTS
BEHOLDEN
(YOU OWE, THEY OWE YOU)
INTERESTS
LIABILITY CONTINGENCY PLANNING
LIABILITY CAUSE P(1) S(1) MINIMIZE PREVENT
ASSET ENHANCEMENT PLANNING
ACTION STEP START FINISH WHO COST/RESOURCES
WHAT NEXT STATEMENT
WHAT NEXT (IS NOT) STATEMENT (WHAT YOU ARE EXCLUDING)
1) P = probability of the cause, S = seriousness of the problem; typically one contingency plans for those problems with a probability and seriousness of medium or above. Thus a low probability and high seriousness, for example - a hurricane - would be 'insured' (transferring the risk). Thus, the ranking is low, medium or high
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)