Notes from Elm Grove
By: June Schroeder RN, CFP®
February 2023
WELCOME: New Member of the Liberty Team: Grant Beck
Grant joined the Liberty team in 2023 and brings a background focused on financial planning with plans to focus on the portfolio management side of the process.
Grant began working at a wealth management firm in 2016 and knew that it was the career path for him. He graduated with dual B.A.s in Economics and Political Science, moved to the East Coast for a year, realized he belonged in the Midwest, and came back. We are glad he did!
Outside of work, Grant enjoys a variety of outdoor activities but can usually be found on the golf course (best score 68). When he isn’t golfing, he enjoys travelling and hiking with his soon-to-be-wife Amanda, who works at Versiti Organ Procurement.
Do You Know Someone Who Hates Retirement? Think About This.
Research shows that purpose, structure and community are important for the happiest retirement. Careers usually provide all three but they need to be replaced in retirement. You know that we have had discussions with many of you about your vision of retirement or “what are you retiring to” or “has your vision changed”. Just sittin’ around doin’ nutin’ does not lead to the happiness many expect from their retirement, even travel or catching up on reading can lose appeal. If you know an unhappy retiree, suggest they consider the following:
Purpose – create a new mission whether as a leader or follower, a volunteer, or a traveler, using the same talents they always used or developing latent ones lurking inside themselves.
Structure – create new routines. Daily routine activity of 15 hours has also been shown to keep brains sharper longer according to a recent U of Pittsburgh study. Be sure to include exercise!
Community – people need people. Even introverts do. Develop a good social network, quality ties to family and friends, join a club. Self-reliance is a good thing but can lead to isolation.
It’s never too late to get back on track for a happy retirement. Maybe the retirement dreams never come true, but the reality can be better if you try!
What did you eat on Super Bowl Sunday?
It is the biggest food day of the year, except for Thanksgiving, according to a United Food and Commercial Workers union report. Americans consume (Source: Restaurantware).
- 1.25 billion wings
- 19.4 million lbs. of potato & tortilla chips
- 139.4 million lbs. of avocados
- 2.5 million lbs. of nuts
- 325.5 million gallons of beer
Where Is My Plane Now?
My husband, Mike, is a retired army pilot. Actually, he still flies almost daily using a flight simulator on his computer. He has 4 screens displaying cockpit, flight plan, real time ground scenery, and his plane and those of the other pilots he flies with while never leaving their homes in the U.S. and other countries.
The screen shot above is from the flight tracking site, FlightAware, they use to make up the flight plan. At the time I took this shot, look at how many planes were in the air all around the world at that very minute! You can track any flight, plane, airport yourself. Check it out! FlightAware is a digital aerospace company founded in 2005 providing global flight tracking solutions, predictive technology, decision making tools, and analytics.
Speaking of Travel Analytics:
Chicago-area drivers had the most hours wasted while sitting in congestion last year, with the average driver losing 155 hours to traffic—a jump of about 50% compared to 2021, according to the INRIX global traffic scorecard. INRIX is a transportation analytic software company located in Kirkland Washington (Source: The Washington Post).