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Thanksgiving Reflections

November 26, 2024

As Thanksgiving Day approaches, it’s a time to pause and reflect on the many blessings in our lives. Yet, amid political strife, ongoing wars, and a world marked by division and unrest, perhaps I’m not alone in finding it easy to overlook the many ways we are blessed.

Consider this: we live in a time and place that ancient royalty would have traded their fortunes for the conveniences we enjoy today. We have technological advancements and knowledge that enable us to lead happier and healthier lives than any generation before us. Through the miraculous innovations of vaccines, antibiotics, and hygiene we have defeated diseases that once claimed countless lives. I am reminded that 100 years ago, in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge lost his son to a small blister he got playing tennis, an injury we could easily treat today with antibiotics.

We also live in a free country where hard work is rewarded. My wife, who grew up in China, often shares with me struggles her family has experienced firsthand under a communist country, and how fortunate we are.

Investors, too, have much to be grateful for. Despite many forecasts of a possible recession, the Federal Reserve seems to be steering us toward the elusive “soft landing,” a feat only achieved once before in 1994-95. With inflation easing and the economy displaying robust performance, we’ve also seen favorable market returns, with the U.S. stock market up over 26% this year as of the time I write this. This shows the importance of staying invested, regardless of political climate or short-term market fluctuations.  Time in the market always beats timing the market – something we have practiced and preached from our firm’s inception decades ago.

On a personal note, I am thankful for my wife and our three-year-old son, who is just beginning to learn about the holidays. I look forward to teaching him the meaning of Thanksgiving as he grows older and instilling in him the importance of being grateful for all that the Lord has blessed him with. He started preschool at Trinity, a local church school, this year and learned a simple prayer that we encourage him to repeat at each meal: “God is great, God is good, let us thank him for our food. By his hands, we all are fed; bless this day our daily bread.” We were truly moved the first time he encouraged us to “hold our hands and let us pray” and recited that simple but beautiful prayer.

As we approach year-end, and all the hustling and bustling that comes with it, I encourage all of us to hold our hands, and let us pray and give thanks for the blessings big and small we have in our lives, from our daily bread in the morning, to where we rest our head at night, there is so much to be thankful for if we just stay open to the possibilities.

Published in the Victoria Advocate

David Faskas CFA, CFP® is the Chief Investment Officer, Chief Financial Planning Officer, and a managing member of Keller Wealth Advisors.

https://kellerwealthadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thanksgiving-Reflections.png 247 500 Keller Wealth Advisors http://kellerwealthadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/KellerWA-300x80-1.png Keller Wealth Advisors2024-11-26 01:01:142024-11-20 11:03:34Thanksgiving Reflections

Breaking the Sandwich Generation Cycle

November 12, 2024

If you find yourself raising school-aged children or financially supporting grown children while also caring for aging parents, you are part of the sandwich generation. It is natural to feel pressure to care for aging parents, and as a parent, to feel the obligation to tend to your own family. Understandably, the sandwich generation experiences extreme levels of stress and feels financially squeezed from both ends. To provide care-giving services to multiple generations of their family, these people frequently set aside their own physical needs, mental health, and financial goals. This sacrifice presents a conundrum – If we don’t take care of our own needs while we are in the sandwich generation, our children will inherit the burden of caring for us. So, how can we make it through the sandwich generation years without losing our mind, and without perpetuating a cycle?

Take stock of your responsibilities.  Responsibilities slowly add up over time. As kids grow up, tee-ball teams turn into travel teams with five practices a week. Likewise, as your parents age, checking in a few evenings a week turns into thrice weekly physical therapy sessions. Before you know it, you are everyone’s taxi, and every hour of your day is accounted for with no room for flexibility to take care of yourself. It’s important to realize when your lifestyle is unsustainable. If you’re overwhelmed, write down daily and monthly routines to see which you must keep, which can be shifted, and which can be cut. Lean on other transportation services like school bus routes, carpools, and local senior transportation services – surprisingly affordable and often available in rural communities. While using these services may not be glamourous, neither is a mental breakdown. Balance, boundaries, and compromise are essential for you to prevail in this challenging role.

Meet needs, not fairness. Living your daily life trying to keep everyone happy is a quick way to fill your schedule and empty your savings and emotional battery. To stay in this role for the long-haul, you need to pay attention to needs. Young children will need dinner prepared, cut-up and dishes cleaned, while your parents may only need company. Adult children may need a couch to crash on during summer break, but your parents may need a bed in your home while recovering from an injury. Give yourself grace in meeting the needs of others and let go of the pressure to make yourself available for everyone all the time. One thing to avoid putting on the back burner while you are in the sandwich generation is your own financial needs. You need to save for retirement and plan for long-term care, so your own kids don’t have to spend their time and savings to care for you. Further, if you do not want your children to remain financially dependent on you well into their twenties and thirties, you need to save for their education so they can enter young adulthood capable of paying for rent or a mortgage without the burden of hefty student loan payments.

Ask for help. There may be a point when you will realize you can no longer meet everyone’s needs on your own. It’s okay to ask for help! If your aging parent is beginning to experience diminished mental capacity, enlisting the help of an attorney is paramount. An attorney can help you draw up key estate planning documents, like a durable power of attorney, so you can continue helping your parents while also being able to draw on their assets to support their care rather than draining yours. The financial squeeze can be addressed by enlisting the help of a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional who can help you juggle the financial needs during this phase of life, and establish a long-term financial plan for your future that accounts for care in your own old age.

The best way to avoid or prepare for the sandwich generation is with multi-generational financial planning. A CFP® professional can serve as a facilitator for conversations across three generations, to make sure that your limitations and abilities are considered in your parent’s long-term care plans, and that your financial plan is robust and disciplined enough to not rely on your own children. With proper multi-generational financial planning, you can break the sandwich generation cycle. If you haven’t created a financial plan yet, start today so many years down the road, spending time with your children is not a stress-inducing obligation for them, but rather a privilege to be enjoyed.

Published in the Victoria Advocate.

Hannah Gohmert is a CFP® professional and the Chief Compliance Officer of Keller Wealth Advisors.

https://kellerwealthadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/SandwichGen.png 247 500 Keller Wealth Advisors http://kellerwealthadvisors.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/KellerWA-300x80-1.png Keller Wealth Advisors2024-11-12 09:13:472024-11-12 12:11:19Breaking the Sandwich Generation Cycle

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