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Yesterday, I was down in Nashville speaking at the Financial Planning Association’s national meeting. It was an interesting time! Speaking with the young man at the coffee shop, our conversation went something like this: “I’m from Alabama.” “How did you get here?” “Like everybody else, music.” Clearly, this is a one-industry town, from the convention center (the Music City Center) to the signs for the Grand Ole Opry.
Admittedly, I don’t know much about country music. But from what I understand, quite a bit focuses on hard times—working folks getting stuck with the kind of misfortune that happens every day but who keep going despite the pain. That old joke comes to mind: if you play a country record backwards, you get rehired, your girl comes back, the truck starts up, and the dog comes back to life. If you think about it, all of these things, and worse, happen to everyone—and we all need to get through them. Sometimes, it helps to know others face the same pain and have persevered. That’s what I understand about country.
The soundtrack of our lives
Given that, it makes sense that the financial planners are here. Our job, essentially, is to help people plan for—and get through—some of life’s toughest challenges. Most of us do it without guitars (although I know some terrific Commonwealth musicians), but the soundtrack of people’s lives is just the same.
It’s easy to get lost in the glitz and flash of Nashville. And here in the financial industry, we certainly have our high-profile people. But the core of both is the same: helping people get through the story of their lives and helping them keep going and do better. Just as with country music, there’s money and glitz. But the bones are about real people and real problems.
In many ways, we are in a boom. The market is at all-time highs, plus job growth and confidence are strong. Things are good. While we certainly have concerns, for many people the actual problems are those of success. It is easy to get excited about the market highs, the money we are making, and so forth.
Enjoy the good times, prepare for the bad
But the most important things to remember are that the good times will not always be there, that tough times are always not too far off (in one way or another), and that our job—indeed, the reason for our profession—is simply to plan to ride those out. To use the good times to prepare for the bad times.
That doesn’t sound all that exciting and, in the glitz of Nashville, maybe not that much fun. It is, however, what we do.
This lesson was, frankly, not what I expected to take away from this trip. It is, however, a powerful takeaway for me and, I hope, for you. Indeed, I learned quite a bit during the Q&A session after my talk, much of which will no doubt show up in future posts. I always get a lot out of speaking with advisors, and this time was no exception.
