True Story:
Yesterday morning one of my clients (We'll call her Sherry for
confidentiality reasons) called and asked if there was any way they
could stop by that afternoon because they had some important questions
they would really like answered ASAP. These kind of phone calls always
scare me a little bit, especially when I manage ALL of the retirement
accounts of the client who wants to get together immediately!
Did I do something wrong? Are they unhappy with me? Are they pulling all
of their accounts? I felt like I used to back in the day when my
mom would tell me "wait until your dad gets home!". Your imagination
runs wild and before you know it, ridiculous and bad thoughts
start racing through your mind - all of which are far worse than
anything that could happen in real life.
I was extra nervous yesterday because earlier this year I took over on a
very large sum of Sherry's retirement money and moved it into
strategies we thought would better fit her retirement goals. I thought
it was a great move for her and a far better fit than her old
investments but maybe she's changed her mind. I knew I had done a good
job and put together some great strategies for her, but needless to say I
had a very long afternoon waiting for my 3:00 appointment.
3:00 came and, as usual, Sherry was right on time. When I walked into
the conference room she wanted to get straight to the business she had
come to discuss. "I need to ask you a few things about my money" she
said as she was laying her most recent account statements out in front
of me. I've been watching all of my statements and comparing them with
what I hear on the news and what my friends are telling me about their
retirement accounts and I'm not sure that this makes sense."
Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes! It's never good to hear that something
doesn't make sense when you're dealing with large sums of money. I was
pretty sure everything was explained well and understood, but did I miss
something?
Sherry continued, "my statements show that none of my accounts have lost
any money. One of them has stayed the same and the other three have all
gone up."
I told her that was right, she was reading the statements correctly.
"So I really haven't lost any money, my accounts are all safe?"
I told her she was right again and reminded her that we made moves to
protect her retirement from the bad stuff that was going on the economy
and the stock market so she wouldn't have to worry about it.
"That's wonderful! I wanted to make sure that these statements were
correct and I feel so good now, I'd like to give you a hug!" And then
she did, she stood up, gave me a hug and then headed for the door. Our
urgent meeting was over in 5 minutes, and Sherry was happy enough to
give me a hug. Did I mention I like hugs from happy clients?
If you're not working with someone worth hugging, you might want to
consider working with someone else. Remember, you CAN keep your money
safe and protected from volatility and you can keep your retirement
money moving in the right direction. Don't let anyone tell you
otherwise!
Robert Edgin