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07/12/2010

Backstops

JULY 2010 ARTICLE POST

…from the desk of Brian Carden, Financial Advisor

        If you ever played baseball or softball, then you know what a backstop is all about. It’s there to make sure things don’t get too far past you. You know when the pitcher throws a ball that is totally uncatchable…or when the left fielder sails a throw towards the plate and its 10 feet over the catcher’s head. When things get outside the lines of play…that’s what a backstop is for…in sports anyway.

        If you look at your life, who can you count on to be your backstop? Yes, you can go to the spiritual side & say that God has your back…he has mine too. Really, when “life happens” as I’ve said a thousand times, who can you really say has your back? If you are as fortunate as my parents, who at 59 years together, make being in love easier than Phil Michelson makes a wedge shot, I know that through all of Dad’s health issues…that regardless of everything that he’s gone through…Mom has always had his back…and regardless of how his physical health has been, his heart & soul has always had Mom’s back…and it will until he takes his last breath…which I hope is a ways away…he just turned 85, and I’m not done with my Dad just yet...because he has always had my back.

        Being a “SM-ISO”…single man in search of…not having someone I can call “my backstop” has always been that big hole in my life. What am I in search of, you ask? That one person I can truly count on to have my back…regardless of what life might throw at me…or at us. Shouldn’t be that hard, should it? If you are one of my good friends & clients reading this…you already know this about me…and I probably know that about you as well. This one, however, is up to God as I’ve thrown it back up to him on countless occasions.

        From a financial perspective, who has your back? Who is that one person that truly has your best interests at heart with regards to your money, goals, wants, dreams, fears, and a plethora of other emotions? Don’t come back at me & say I have an advisor at “Blah Blah Blah Investment Co.” More than likely they are just a “hardware salesman” as I discussed last month. Don’t tell me you’ve got “a financial planner” because that financial plan they did six years ago was outdated the day they gave it to you…it was probably nothing but a snapshot of what was then. Don’t tell me you follow the guidance of one of the “financial entertainers” either. As I’ve said before, “You can’t get financial advice through the media…just like you can’t get a haircut over the phone.”

        If you’re married, don’t tell me your spouse has it all under control. Trust me on this; we’ve yet to meet that spouse that had it “all under control” once we’ve done a thorough & comprehensive review of all of their moving parts. I’ve met too many widows that had that same thought…only to find out they were financially devastated because their late husband “had it under control”. I’ve met a bunch of business owners that felt the same…until their partner died…they thought it was “all under control”.

        Here’s the deal…if you just write three small words at the top of a legal pad for me that say WHAT HAPPENS IF? Now start filling in the page with all of those things that come to mind…when you’re done, I’ll add another 40-50 for you, because it’s what I do all day long with my clients. What am I doing, by the way? I’m stepping up to the plate and becoming “your financial backstop”. If you let me do my job right, I’ll be more than that as well…as my clients have become my friends…and my friends have become my clients.

        So I ask you? Who has your back? Take a good look behind you and see who is there…or who you think is there…or who just might be there that you’re unaware of. I’ll bet that Starbucks latte that you don’t have a financial backstop…so it sounds like you might just need me after all…and when “life happens”…if you let me do what I am trained and skilled to do…I’ll be right there. As our Senior Partner says often, we are the third most important person in one’s life behind their doctor and their minister…and not only do I believe that…I do what I can to live it as well.

Best,
Brian
Brian_Carden@PeachtreePlanning.com
www.briancarden.com

COPYRIGHT 2010, Brian E. Carden

Posted by Brian Carden at 01:07:00 PM in Financial

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