Are You My Mother? Are You a Prior Planner?

By marekuliasz @ Shutterstock.com

Do you have a plan? Are you my mother? Because when I hear about planning, that’s who immediately comes to mind. As I wrote to you yesterday, my mom’s a planner. When asked how she was able to take certain trips or go to space camp as a teacher, she would respond, “Prior planning.” As a teacher, she taught her students to believe in themselves, and if they wanted something in life, they could get it with some simple prior planning. Easy to say. Hard to do—much more exciting than arithmetic. That’s the beauty of her teaching.

Prior planning. Isn’t that what successful retirement investing is all about? Of course, it is. You can do it. It’s up to you, not some one-size-fits-all model. Because when I hear about robo-advisors, I wonder, “What will that tell investors about themselves?” As investors, sometimes we are our own worst enemy. You need a plan. You need someone who can help you stick to it. Someone you trust.

Because the playing field changes. Life is busy no matter how old you are, working or retired. There’s always something that needs to get done today. Why do investments get stuck with the leftovers—your leftover time—when you’re not at your best?

Does the robo-advisor understand what’s bothering you? Does it know you? I just don’t see the personal relationship in either option, and it boggles the mind how much weight investors put into these reports in the most crucial saving years of their lives.

Live the island life. But don’t live it feeling like you’re surrounded by water creeping higher and higher. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by life. But as my mom would tell me when I’d complain about a test grade—“You’re the key to your success.” As an investor, once you realize that, you put yourself light-years ahead of most others who are hoping and praying for the market to do something for them.

Action Line: Sign-up someone you love for my weekly email. That way, the next time you tell them Your Survival Guy suggested we do this, there’ll be no confusion.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.