Brian Carden "Insights" - Financial Advisor Nashville

Memories of the Sears Wishbook

            What is it about Christmas that creates such nostalgia?  I remember when I was a kid in the 60’s, around the first of November, my brother David and I would impatiently wait every day for the mailman to deliver the first true signal that Christmas was coming….The Sears Wish Book!  Hopefully, you’ve just smiled…for whenever I mention this to someone, there’s a nice warm feeling about hearing those words…sort of like Homer Simpson when he thinks about donuts.  I found this cover of the 1966 issue…that would have made me eight & my brother David six…and I sure don’t remember our catalog looking this nice…ever!

 
               I remember Mom trying her best to help us avoid a fight when determining who got the first shot with it.  I guess she was lucky that it was just the two of us.  We didn’t have a sister, so the girls’ section usually wound up immaculate.   However, the boys’ section was altogether different, as we usually studied it line-by-line, page-by-page.  It was dog-eared, circled, marked up, numbered, prioritized, and written in by both of us.  If we had spent as much time with the World Book encyclopedias (there’s another memory for you) as we did with this catalog, we would have been considered child prodigies.  I guarantee you that I could find that football game with the vibrating field in about 30 seconds or less! 

             My memories take me back to the Sears & Roebuck on Central Ave. in Knoxville, which was almost identical to the old Sears store on Lafayette St. here in Nashville.  We would always walk through lawn and garden, through the appliance section, into the main store, and right into the candy counter.  Most times, we got dragged there for school clothes (Yuck!), but after that book came in the mail, we knew exactly where we were going….downstairs to the Toy department…and to see the big guy…the head honcho, the one guy that truly understood what that Wish Book meant to us…Santa Claus! 

             Our experiences with Santa weren’t as dramatic or tragic as the kids in “A Christmas Story”, but the memories of that Sears store are etched in my mind forever… as are the framed pictures of me and David on Santa’s lap in my home.  As I watch those old Super 8 movies of our childhood, (converted to DVD, thank you) I remember David and I on Christmas morning in our bedrooms, both feeling like two thoroughbreds in the gate, just waiting for Mom to give us the “all clear sign”.  It wasn’t Christmas without Dad and his movie camera with that light bar that had 10000-watt bulbs in it.  We still laugh about being partially blinded by it trying to get to our presents.

             Today, Christmas in so many ways is so different.  The Sears I remember is gone.  The Wish Book now has an I-PAD app.  This fall, both Mom and Dad have already proclaimed “Don’t get us anything as we don’t need anything!”  Yeah, whatever.  It’s probably going to be a “point & click” shopping spree online and gift cards for all…with a few surprises thrown in!  Last year, David asked for & got no telling how many E-Bay gift cards.  I think he had spent all of them by Christmas afternoon…me, I’m more of an Amazon.com guy.

             I consider myself a blessed man in that for as long as I can remember, the Carden family has gathered around the tree in my parents’ living room, all of sitting in the same exact places as mandated by Chase & Courtney, my nephew & niece.  It’s their job to hand out presents and we go around the room, opening gifts one at a time.  Dad doesn’t get as much chocolate as he used to, but it’s a sure thing he’ll get it. In spite of their proclamation, Mom & Dad usually are genuinely surprised.  As Mom says, after 59 years of marriage, it’s hard to surprise Dad…but we always seem to succeed.  Besides, being sneaky is half the fun of buying gifts in the first place.

             Yes, Christmas as I knew it as a kid will never be the same.  My Wish Book is now a personal journal of words, thoughts, experiences, emotions, goals, wants, prayers, and dreams.  The only pictures in it are those created by my mind and my heart.  Christmas today is about family and friends.  My clients seem to become my friends, and sometimes my friends become clients…and all of them become a part of my own personal family. 

                 So, with all my heart, please know if you’re reading this, that you are a part of my Wish Book, and I wish you all of the love, hope, and joy of this Christmas and Hanukkah season. 

Regards,

Brian

Brian_Carden@PeachtreePlanning.com

www.briancarden.com

 

           

           

           

The DaVinci Code & Financial Planning

            Almost every church sign I’ve driven past in the last couple of months has advertised a sermon on this book.  Some pastors went as far as to say, “I’ve forbidden my congregation from seeing it.”  Sorry…I read the book over a year ago…and saw the movie as well.  Both were entertaining…besides, I don’t know what the fuss is about.  Because of my faith, I know the truth and where to find the answers to those spiritual questions I ask myself regularly. To me it comes down to the fact that regardless of what one might think of the factual relevance of the storyline, when you go to Borders to buy a copy of the book, it’s always going to be in the Fiction section.

            Just as my faith helps me define the truth spiritually, my professional experience, education, and beliefs as a financial planner allow me to know the difference between “Financial Fiction” and what is actually true.  In the movie “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance” starring Jimmy Stewart, the hero is not made nor born, but manufactured by the storywriters of that time.  As the editor of the newspaper said, “This is the West.  When the legend becomes the fact, print the legend.”

Here are a few examples of “Financial Fiction”…Liberty Valance style:

LEGEND:	You don’t need a financial advisor to create wealth…do it yourself!
FACT:	From 1984-2004, the S & P 500 average annual return = 12.2% The average investor = 3.5% (Dalbar)
LEGEND:	Knowing what to buy & sell and how to time the stock market is the key to wealth accumulation in investments
FACT:	Nobel Prize winning Study says only 2% market timing, 4% investment selection, 94% success rate with Asset Allocation via Modern Portfolio Theory. (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1990)
LEGEND:	We’ve all got plenty of time to save for retirement.
FACT:	41% of American households headed by individuals ages 45-54 do not have any retirement savings what so ever. (Congressional Research Service)
LEGEND:	The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S & P 500 index are the leading indicators of how the US stock market is fairing.
FACT:	Only 30 stocks make up the DJIA. (dowjones.com) 22% of the largest US companies are not a part of the Index. (Russell, Inc.)
LEGEND:	Term insurance is the only type of life insurance you’ll ever need.
FACT:	Only 1% of all term policies issued result in death benefits to the named beneficiaries. (Penn State Study, 1994)

 

            So ask yourself, in your mind, what is legend and what is fact…and where did you get your information.  Unfortunately, Borders doesn’t have a “Financial Fiction” section, but if they did, it would probably be full of hundreds of books and magazines with “legendary” titles & cover stories.  If you are tired of Fiction and are ready to move over to the History and the Psychology sections, (remember, money has emotion) maybe it’s time to hit reply.

 

Regards,

Brian

www.briancarden.com               

Copyright 2006, Brian E. Carden

 

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