Creating a comprehensive financial plan for clients is just part of what differentiates us. Investable assets are not just numbers on a page. They represent hopes and dreams. The best financial advice is that which is tailored for the individual, advice that creates a better life for you and those you love. So when we meet with you we take into account all of these issues all the while looking at the big picture and the tax consequences of your decisions. This is what custom comprehensive planning is all about. And we will be here when you need us. There will be no automated response to any of your questions or calls. We are here to serve you. Call or stop by our office to set up an appointment or to learn more about how we can help.
Team Intro
Creating a comprehensive financial plan for clients is just part of what differentiates us. Investable assets are not just numbers on a page. They represent hopes and dreams. The best financial advice is that which is tailored for the individual, advice that creates a better life for you and those you love. So when we meet with you we take into account all of these issues all the while looking at the big picture and the tax consequences of your decisions. This is what custom comprehensive planning is all about. And we will be here when you need us. There will be no automated response to any of your questions or calls. We are here to serve you. Call or stop by our office to set up an appointment or to learn more about how we can help.
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News and insights
Commentary April 2025
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing several people comment that the volatility of the markets and current events have left them feeling insecure. I can understand that feeling and, given all that is happening in the world, it seems like a normal reaction.
The word “security” is handed down to us from the Latin “securus” which meant “safe, without care.” (Although to be without care might be setting the bar a bit high.) Adding “in” to Latin words often reverses their meaning, so insecurity evolved to mean “the lack of security, of assurance.” This pretty much sums up the ways we use these words today. I am not expressing an opinion about any changes and whether I think they are good or bad. That is irrelevant. What matters is that any change, by definition, unsettles and introduces new elements of risk.
Interestingly, “insecurity” has come to imply personal failing. A common dictionary definition is “a lack of confidence within oneself, especially having to do with one’s abilities.” The DSM, the key reference guide for psychologists, defines it as “self-doubt, often due to a recent failure.” This is where I think the significance of the word has undergone a major change. The insecurities people are feeling these days are not due to self-doubt caused by personal failure. Instead, they may come from a sense of powerlessness, an awareness that events beyond our control are shaping our lives. Since many of these changes feel unprecedented, they may trigger anxiety about what lies ahead.
So, what can we do? Much of the psychological advice, I believe, focuses on the wrong things because there’s an assumption that our insecurity is coming from personal shortcomings. But that is not always the case. Many of our insecurities stem from societal shifts that feel beyond our control. To understand the most basic concept of security is to understand the human brain is a prediction machine. It begins at birth when the baby acquires the ability to predict the source of food and comfort. That prediction mechanism has continued through your entire life to where you are now. The inability to make accurate predictions is unsettling and that is the true source of insecurity.
I’m not going to pretend to be a psychologist—I’m a financial advisor. From my perspective, security is rooted in my daily work. I focus on individual planning, which not only helps people build financial stability but also considers the very factors causing so much distress. The cornerstone to feeling good about your asset management is the organization with which you work with. Over the last thirty years, I’ve had the privilege of serving our clients at Maar Financial Group of Thrivent. Thrivent is a Fortune 500 company with $179 billion assets under management that was established in 1902 as a fraternal benefit company. Thrivent has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for the 14th year in a row. Think of all that has happened in the world since 1902. Thrivent knows how to deal with change.
As this brief commentary attempted to demonstrate, security is more than just a word, it is a concept that includes many attributes. My clients and I have experienced quite a bit together. All the way from the ups of overly enthusiastic bull markets to the downs of the financial crisis of 2008. During the last thirty years, we have weathered many storms together and we have planned for times of uncertainty. We are still, and always, surrounded by opportunities for growth.
Asset management services provided by Thrivent Asset Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Thrivent the marketing name for Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
“World’s Most Ethical Companies” and “Ethisphere” names and marks are registered trademarks of Ethisphere LLC. For details, visit worldsmostethicalcompanies.com.
See Thrivent.com/social for other important disclosure information.
Commentary January 2025
Another New Year has arrived and there are those who predict, even more so than in other years, big changes are on the horizon. Whether that horizon is near or far no one can agree. There are those who are looking forward to the changes, and there are those who are dreading the changes, though what those changes will be, no one can agree.
Much of this uncertainty is due to the past national election. There are those who voted for the new administration expecting particular changes. Whether they will get what they wanted is anyone’s guess, but the law of unintended consequences is still in effect, and those unintended consequences add yet another layer of uncertainty. Then there are those who did not vote for the new administration and they appear to be dreading whatever changes might come.
In many ways this is business as usual for those of us who watch the financial markets. We have discussed in this space how our brains are constantly searching for patterns, and the brain uses these perceived patterns to predict what to do, or what will happen next. For example, meteorologists search amid many variables looking for patterns that will allow them to predict the weather. They do a remarkably accurate job given how complex the dynamic variables are. Yet, this is child’s play compared to the complex dynamics that make up financial markets.
Weather patterns are not influenced by human emotion or psychology. Financial markets are. Weather patterns are not influenced by political change. Financial markets are. Weather patterns are not influenced by human driven factors such as trade imbalances or interest rates. We might think of those factors as impersonal data, but that is incorrect. They are very personal in that they are completely controlled by human action.
Not since Covid emerged in 2020, can I recall more anxiety, and hence more discussion, about what is going to happen next. Discussion may not be the most accurate word. Chatter might be better. Someone used the analogy of our mind as similar to a camera lens. When it zooms in on something it excludes everything else that would normally be part of the picture. In other words, we lose perspective. This is not a matter of we “might” lose perspective: when we focus too intently on anything we absolutely will lose perspective to some degree.
Since we are zoomed in, we will hear all the voices and all the speculation—all the chatter. Unfortunately, it is human nature to focus on the negatives and adversity more than the positives and opportunity. By zooming in and focusing so intently on things we cannot control, we lose perspective, we experience negative emotions, and then our stress-response mental and physical systems are activated. If none of this sounds good, that’s because it isn’t. Is this how we want to begin our new year? Probably not.
Just as our minds can zoom in, so too can they zoom out. We have the ability to use our thoughts to actually change our thoughts. Seen from the proper perspective we can remind ourselves that as the Bible tells us “there is nothing new under the sun.” Change is going to take place and only the passage of time will reveal the consequences of any type of change. We cannot control, or even predict, what those consequences will be. What we CAN and must control is our state of mind. Stress and fear create inner turbulence. We spend time worrying about the future and miss the wonder before our very eyes.
Wisdom involves using our minds in constructive and healthy ways. We should recognize the limits of one’s own knowledge, understand that change will unfold over time, and accept that certainty is a mirage. We must become comfortable with uncertainty—it is, and always has been, a given.
At Maar Financial Group we prepare financial plans with our clients in the understanding that uncertainty is always with us. We use the many tools we have at our disposal and create a way forward that will help our clients meet both their short and long-term goals. We avoid the noisy chatter of those who worry about predicting the future. We embrace the opportunities of each new day. Like a boat under sail, we tack as needed to maintain our course. We do so with confidence because, although it may not seem that way, we HAVE been here before.
We wish all of you a happy, healthy, and fulfilling new year. May it be filled with days of joy.
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December Commentary 2024
Before me is a framed photograph of a precious moment captured in time. Our Christmas tree gleams in the background with my family gathered together: my parents, my wife, and my children. I treasure that picture and in my mind it has come to represent my memory of the ideal Christmas. As I snapped the shutter all those years ago, part of me believed Christmas would always be this way.
Christmas is a time of strong emotion because during the holidays we come upon two human truths that cannot easily be reconciled. One, is our wish for the things we love and treasure to stay the same. And the second, of course, is our knowledge that cannot be.
The way we treasure and hold tight to our holiday traditions are evidence of this. Christmas at our house, as it probably is at yours, is full of traditions. The tree that must go in the same place every year. The ornaments that have acquired layers of meaning as the years have passed are carefully hung. We have the same tree-topper we’ve had for years and stockings hanging on the fireplace. We do our best to meet the requirements everyone has for our traditional unchanging family Christmas, and we tell ourselves, each year, that we have succeeded. But of course, that is an illusion.
Sometimes the changes are small. New decorations have come to replace old ones. The wreath over the fireplace is larger than it used to be. Other changes are stark. Loved ones have passed on, preserved in loving memory, but missed every year. Every family knows of this reality. Then there are the small, almost invisible changes, their significance captured in family photos. Every year the children have grown. At first the changes seem slight, and we smile and think the children are growing up so beautifully. Then with the passing years the growth seems to accelerate, and we can’t help but notice that we, mom and dad, are changing as well.
Now here it is, the holiday season, come again. Our eldest daughter, Megan, and her husband will not be home for Christmas this year. Megan will be working on Christmas day at the hospital where she is an intern. Our son, Andrew, lives in town and he will be here with his wife who is now so much a part of the family it is as if she has always been with us. Our daughter, Ann, has just relocated to Hawaii with Jack, her husband who is in the military, and they will be coming home for Christmas. Our youngest, Rae, returned home before Thanksgiving. Unbelievably, she will have completed her course requirements for her bachelor’s degree.
The holidays can be a time to pause in the rush of life, to reflect, and take stock. The truth we come face-to-face with is that change is a constant. Whether we see it or not in the daily passage of time, it is with us always. Change can be difficult. Change can be joyous. But one thing it cannot be is avoided. What matters is how we deal with it. Everyone confronts this in their own way, and all we really can do is be there for each other in loving and supportive ways.
Obviously, our holiday this year will be very different from the one captured in that photograph I treasure. I was about to say it will be so different that it is almost as if that photograph is from a different world, but that is not true. This Christmas has its roots in that moment captured so long ago. Our present is a product of our past. This Christmas will be blessed by the fact we had that Christmas, and so many other Christmases, that brought us to this holiday season.
Our holiday wish for all of you is that you have a wonderful Christmas. We can take comfort that all of our Christmas memories have their origin in that moment thousands of years ago when it was announced, “I bring you tidings of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Notice the angel said “unto you.” That is us, right here, right now. Have a joyous Christmas.
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