Someone asked me the other day what is different today “in the investment world” than what we’ve been used to in the past. Someone armed with facts, figures, charts and graphs could probably talk for hours describing and defining how these times are different than most other times in our history. There are lot of things different in how much cash is sitting on the sidelines, how companies are waiting for additional changes from Congress before hiring, on competitive global currency positions, etc. The list would be long.
But what I find most fundamental in “today’s investment world” is the change seen in the individual investor and this is what interests me most. More fascinating to me than how the equities market is valued relative to interest rates is how your behaviors are affected by current conditions and your belief in the future. Answers to questions about financial confidence and hope are much different now than they were 10 years ago and how those answers affect decisions over levels of consumption and savings are astounding and very consequential!
One of the most striking things I see when talking to people is how different their goals are now than what they were just a few years ago. It’s hard to define in general terms an overall attitude shift but words like “more conservative”, and “less debt” and “more realistic ideals” and “more control”, and “more lifestyle balance” are very common ways that people describe their new attitudes about what they want in their financial lives.
I personally do not believe that there is a “good” or a “bad” in this kind of shift. What I think is most important is having a strong sense of what is important to you at the present time and making sure that you feel that your financial plan supports your attitudes and what you want to accomplish. Most all aspects of your life require periodic changes and reinvention and your financial plan is no different. One of our favorite jobs is meeting with people to ask “What now? How do you want to live?”
