A Change of Plans

For many students and parents this time of year, it is graduation season. On Saturday, we attended our daughter’s graduation from Clark University. It was a celebration of her fifth-year master’s and her bachelor’s degrees because there was no in-person graduation last year. It was a great day. But how does one talk about the past year and what the future holds?

This year is a big challenge for any graduation ceremony planner: How do you make it meaningful without sounding trite? We are all tired of the pandemic yet everyone feels they need to talk about how hard it has been in big and small ways. Yet, the pandemic is leaving lasting effects.

I’m ready to let the pandemic go, not because I want to get back to normal but because I am ready for the future. I hope our graduates are too.

If I had to pick one thing that the pandemic has done, it would be that it has forever changed our society and the way we think about money. Here are some of the things that have changed:

Some workers figured out that they can work from home—or anywhere—leading to exploding housing prices in the suburbs and vacation spots
Some small business owners had to transform their businesses to survive, e.g., restaurants converting to hyper-take-out service
More workers retired during the pandemic than ever before causing a shortage of talent in many industries
A recognition that we need each other through family and “pods” while testing marriages as never before (too much “quality” time together?).

These are really big topics and there is a lot to write about on each one.

The bottom line is that personal financial planning has changed, too. A number of our clients are telling us that they are less willing to wait to take action on some life goals. Perhaps the pandemic made them see what could be possible. Other clients are changing their attitudes and life priorities. In both cases this means that a person’s financial plan must change, too.

I hope you came through the pandemic with minimal impacts. But if you are thinking differently about retirement, college, or home buying, give us a call, we’re here to help.

Lyman H. Jackson

Lyman@PlanWithFPS.com

617-653-3303

Financial Planning Solutions, LLC (FPS) is a Registered Investment Advisor. FPS provides this blog for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this blog should be considered investment, tax, or legal advice. FPS only renders personalized advice to each client after entering into an advisory relationship. Information herein includes opinions and forward-looking statements that may not come to pass. Information is derived from sources believed to be reliable. Information is at a point in time and subject to change without notice. Such information may not be independently verified by FPS. Please see important disclosures link at the bottom of this page.