From the Editor: The Changing Leaves

As my colleague Dianne White has said before, autumn can seem more like the start of a new year than January. While January is the traditional month for setting new resolutions, for me, September seems the more natural fit to be planning for the future. During the summer, it’s only natural that those slow times relaxing in the sun will lead you to think about “What if?” even if you’re still enjoying your vacation and not yet eager to dig deeply into those thoughts. But as fall rolls around, there’s more energy to start planning out those ideas, and the start of any good plan begins with your goals.

At Nexus, one of the ways we define risk is “not achieving your financial goals.” It’s one of the reasons clearly defined goals are so important: they are the framework through which you make your financial decisions. Without established goals to serve as guideposts, choosing a proper course of action becomes much more challenging. You may have experienced this in the past. You ask an advisor a question, perhaps what option you should consider, and the response back is “it depends.” It depends because the answer for you will be based on your objectives and your circumstances. Without exploring the things important to you, you could end up making choices that run counter to what you are trying to achieve.

Setting goals isn’t always easy, especially when it feels like you are trying to plan out the rest of your life. It’s great if your goals are specific, measurable and tied to a clear timeline. Goals that are thought out and well articulated will make your advisor’s job easier. But it’s also okay if your objectives start vaguely, and then serve as a foundation to build on. It’s better to resist the temptation of crafting the perfect goals if the alternative is not formulating any at all. Setting your goals, much like planning overall, is a process. Your goals will change over your lifetime. So there is no need to make them flawless.

Building flexibility into your goals is important, as your life will evolve in both expected and unexpected ways. The changing of the leaves marks the transition from summer to fall, and the transitions during your lifetime will be marked by a series of events as well. In her most recent blog post, The Times They Are a-Changin’, Alex Jemetz talks more about navigating through the transformations our lives will take.

Also in this issue, Alana Buckley talks about the future of money and the impact of digital currencies. Fergus Gould provides some thoughts around the economic recovery from the pandemic. And be sure to check out Inside Nexus to read about Ian Ligertwood, the newest member to join Nexus.