| A Cold Winter of Broken Dreams? By Robin Young |
Have you abandoned your dreams in the wake of the stock market’s destruction? For many, feelings of hopelessness, despair, anger and
shame have darkened what, until very recently, they’d banked on being a comfortable retirement. The sense of loss can be overwhelming
and you may find it difficult to imagine a different reality.
What can you do? It starts with self care by shutting off the TV, exercising and focusing on your all aspects of your wealth – not just the
financial yardstick. It also means going back to the drawing board with a good dose of financial life planning. Your dreams may need to be
downsized or adjusted in some way to fit your new economic reality. Scenario planning on the financial implications of various options will
help you come to terms with your situation. You may have to work longer, get a job, or buy that vacation home one street away from the
water, but there are creative ways to salvage your dreams.
The value of good financial life planning with a trusted advisor has been underscored in these market conditions. Emotions like greed and
fear often make us react to market swings in a way that sabotages our success. When markets are delivering high returns (like we saw
during 2003-2006) investors feel happy, confident and will often want to increase the risk they are taking in their portfolios – greed. When
the tide turns and markets fall, often emotions take over and many investors panic and bail out – fear. One of the biggest benefits of
financial life planning is that your investment strategy is designed within the context of your overall financial plan so you have a guide to
keep your strategy aligned with what’s important for you and your family.
Robin Young CFP®, President of Northstar Financial Planning, Inc., Londonderry, NH www.northstarfp.com. Fee-only Financial Life Planning
and Wealth Management. 603.216.9226.
shame have darkened what, until very recently, they’d banked on being a comfortable retirement. The sense of loss can be overwhelming
and you may find it difficult to imagine a different reality.
What can you do? It starts with self care by shutting off the TV, exercising and focusing on your all aspects of your wealth – not just the
financial yardstick. It also means going back to the drawing board with a good dose of financial life planning. Your dreams may need to be
downsized or adjusted in some way to fit your new economic reality. Scenario planning on the financial implications of various options will
help you come to terms with your situation. You may have to work longer, get a job, or buy that vacation home one street away from the
water, but there are creative ways to salvage your dreams.
The value of good financial life planning with a trusted advisor has been underscored in these market conditions. Emotions like greed and
fear often make us react to market swings in a way that sabotages our success. When markets are delivering high returns (like we saw
during 2003-2006) investors feel happy, confident and will often want to increase the risk they are taking in their portfolios – greed. When
the tide turns and markets fall, often emotions take over and many investors panic and bail out – fear. One of the biggest benefits of
financial life planning is that your investment strategy is designed within the context of your overall financial plan so you have a guide to
keep your strategy aligned with what’s important for you and your family.
Robin Young CFP®, President of Northstar Financial Planning, Inc., Londonderry, NH www.northstarfp.com. Fee-only Financial Life Planning
and Wealth Management. 603.216.9226.
Robin Young is a regular columnist with Applaud Women. To read her article Your Financial Health, Fall 2009. Go to
Your Financial Health continued, or Don't Let Your Paycheck Stop Once You Retire Summer 2009 go to Don't Let
Your Paycheck Stop Once You Retire article continued To read more articles in the Winter/Spring issue of Applaud Women
Go to Spring 2009 articles or go to the Applaud Women Library
Your Financial Health continued, or Don't Let Your Paycheck Stop Once You Retire Summer 2009 go to Don't Let
Your Paycheck Stop Once You Retire article continued To read more articles in the Winter/Spring issue of Applaud Women
Go to Spring 2009 articles or go to the Applaud Women Library
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applaud local women. The core of the magazine is our inspirational women's articles, most of which feature local women but occasionally we are
able to interview national women who we feel provide a unique inspiration for our readers. Our other articles cover topics of interest such as food
recipes, home, garden, beauty, health, fashion, dating, parenting, seniors, finance, business, hair care, skin care, advice, real estate, insurance,
weddings etc. Each issue has a feature section as well. Many of our articles are written by local business people who provide information
relevant to their business expertise. The Applaud Women website is also a resource center for local women including the most comprehensive
listings of Restaurants, Weddings, Female doctors and Hotels. It also includes a number of informational pages with links, articles and RSS feeds
to both local and national websites of interest to women in NH & n. MA. To read the publication click here then click on the cover image to turn
pages, print or download the entire magazine. For past issues visit the Applaud Women Library.
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