Financial Architects - December 2018

Take A Break

Everyone likes to dream about what enjoying their wealth will look like after a successful career or business endeavor: visiting white-sand beaches, spending winters somewhere warm, enjoying days golfing, ice fishing, gardening, baking, checking projects off your honey-do list, or spending more time with the grandchildren. Having infinite time for whatever your heart desires is what retirement is about, right? Of course it is! You can paint the clearest picture in your mind of what your retirement will look like and conceptualize the ideal financial strategy to make it all work. But that’s where the problem lies — it’s all theoretical. You truly don’t know what retirement will bring until you’re living it. GOING IN BLIND Visualizing this wealth enjoyment phase (a better description of retirement) could be compared to having a child. If you’re a parent, think back to a time before you had kids. Perhaps you were young or a newlywed, dreaming with your spouse about one day starting a family of your own. The perfect picture was painted in your mind. When you or your spouse got pregnant for the first time, you likely started preparing for what you thought you needed, such as making your home more kid-friendly, decorating a nursery, and researching the best baby products. Fast-forward to when your firstborn was welcomed into the world and it was time for you to take your new baby home. It was pretty terrifying, right? You likely wondered if this little human came with an instruction manual. Or maybe you were surprised when the hospital just let you leave even though you felt like you had no idea what you were doing. You probably realized quickly that all the planning and dreaming about how things were going to be didn’t match the reality of what being a parent was like at all. You probably remember your colicky baby screaming for 10 hours nonstop, the babysitter not showing up, and the expensive formula making your baby sick. In that moment, you began to experience the pain and difficulty of taking care of a newborn who was completely reliant upon you. All of the little preparation details would have been very difficult if not impossible to conceptualize beforehand. So when your focus is the enjoyment of your wealth in retirement — just like when you had a baby — you’re going in blind. It’s great to dream about what things will look like (and don’t stop dreaming!) but keep in mind that there is only so much you can prepare for. MAKE A STRATEGY Since there is no perfect roadmap for this next stage, it is important to have a strategy that can be carefully and actively executed during changing circumstances; this will always position you to do what you want, with whomever you want, and how you want. Then you can enjoy the wealth you worked hard to build without fear. Keep the focus on economic principles because they’re always true and never change — even when life does. This is important, especially when “theoretical” retirement becomes “actual” retirement in the execution of your lifelong aspirations. HOW TO TURN THE THEORETICAL CONCEPT OF RETIREMENT INTO A REALITY

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BUTTERY ROASTED CHESTNUTS

Whether or not you have an open fire, you can easily roast some chestnuts using this simple, delicious recipe. INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds fresh

• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or more to taste • Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

chestnuts, unpeeled • 2–3 sprigs rosemary • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 450 F. 2. Place a large sheet of foil on a rimmed baking sheet. 3. On a large, flat workspace, place chestnuts flat side down. Using a sharp knife, carve an X on the rounded side of each chestnut. 4. In a large bowl of hot water, soak chestnuts for 1 minute. 5. Pat dry and transfer to a medium bowl. Add rosemary, butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Toss to coat and transfer to baking sheet. Arrange in a single layer. Gather the edges of the foil together, leaving an opening at the top. 6. Roast until peels curl up, about 30–45 minutes. 7. Transfer to a platter and serve while hot or warm.

Inspired by Bon Appétit

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