“A friend introduced me to a very nice Christian man who is recommending I put my money into some kind of annuity or bonds or something like that. I’m not a stock market person. I don’t understand finances, but I really like this young man. He seems so honest. Does this sound like a good deal?”

My stock answer is, “No.”

Not because I know this is a questionable deal, but because I haven’t heard enough.

When evaluating offers (financial or otherwise), there are always two pertinent factors to study: the proposal and the person.

I hope this young man is exactly what he seems. However, I also know what victims often say right after being fleeced: “Oh, but he seemed like such a nice, Christian man!”

Classic logicians call this an “inverse ad hominem argument.” You rely too much on your evaluation of the person, and not enough on your evaluation of the person’s proposal.

Again, I am not saying this young man is a con artist. I’m urging you to look deeper.

The failure to investigate is how bad deals get consummated every day. A bad idea is easy to hide inside a Trojan horse of charm and smooth talk. 

So how does all of this apply to you?

When you are evaluating any idea or proposal, financial or otherwise, I suggest balancing two parts of the value equation: character and content. 

First, evaluate the other person’s character. You like him. Great. Now, go ask others who have dealt with him over a long period of time what their experiences have been.

Check references. Don’t simply settle for murky promises from a winsome personality.

Second, consider the content of the offer. What exactly is this person proposing you do? 

In the example above, both bonds and annuities were mentioned. Those are very different instruments. Did the person really recommend both? Or is there a chance you misunderstood? 

You need to make sure you understand the content of the proposal. Here’s a good test: Can you explain the offer to a friend or family member in such a way that they understand the broad outlines of the proposal?

Until it’s clear to you, it should be a “no go.”

By focusing on the person (but not the proposal), you leave yourself open to a scam. And by focusing solely on the proposal, you may end up with a great plan/idea that is being overseen by someone who’s incompetent (or dishonest).

Character and content—both are important. Don’t leave out either in your decision process.

One last thing…is the question of retirement income keeping you up at night? Are you wrestling with the question: “How can I turn my retirement assets into money I can live on for the rest of my life?!”

If so, email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com. I’ll send you a free link to take the RISA^® Profile. This simple, ingenious quiz takes mere minutes, and it can save you a LOT of stress in retirement.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Compare that to professional baseball. In the big leagues, nobody cares that your dad is one of the coaches, that you skinned-up your knee, or that the kid playing first base called you a name.

It’s perform…or else. Get a hit, or get booed. Help us win, or look for a new job.

On the other hand, excel and you get to remain in an exclusive group: the 780 men who comprise Major League Baseball’s active rosters (30 teams with 26 players each). And you get to earn an average of $4.22 million a year! 

Make no mistake—major leaguers are talented. But they also worked their tails off to make it to the bigs. They were the ultimate “go-getters,” pursuing their dream with relentless passion. They didn’t just “get” opportunities handed to them. They took an active role in creating their own opportunities.

The same principle is at work in the business world.

Want to be an employee at one of Fortune magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For”—e.g., Cisco Systems, Hilton, American Express, etc.? Want to start your own successful $50 million business?

Hey, nobody is ever going to hand that to you. You’ll have to create that opportunity. To do that, you’ll need to remember that the secret to getting the career you love depends on your head, your heart, and your hands.

What do I mean? I mean you’ll find your greatest opportunities when you:

• Learn to think creatively. You don’t necessarily have to create something altogether new. Brainstorm an innovative way to improve an existing product, process, or service. By using your head, you can make a huge difference for your customers and/or bosses. They’ll gladly pay you for ideas that enhance lives—or boost their bottom line. 

• Learn to care deeply. Comedian George Burns quipped, “The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” It’s a funny joke, but it’s not funny when you’re trying to fake sincerity on the job. So, quit trying. If your heart isn’t in what you are selling, promoting, and spending your days doing—do something else! 

Success in business means caring deeply about your clients, obsessing over their success. If you own a company, nobody else has to care like you do—it isn’t their life. But you have to care—from the heart. And you can’t fake that—not to your customers and least of all to yourself.

• Learn to serve enthusiastically. Who are the people you serve? Sometimes they’re easy to spot. If you’re a realtor, it’s the happy home seller or buyer. If you’re a doctor, it’s the relieved patient. If you sell cars, it’s the harried mom who will chauffeur her kids all over creation in that new SUV. 

But sometimes the beneficiaries of your efforts are not so obvious. You’re an engineer at a plant that manufacturers machine screws. You sit in an office by yourself most days writing computer code. Or you’re a consultant for the paper industry. 

Whatever the case, never forget that whatever you do, somewhere out there is a person being helped by what you do. You’re not just helping an impersonal corporation turn a profit. 

When you can make that connection between “what I do” and “how my efforts are making life better for someone else” it gives your work new significance, value, purpose, and even joy.

Is all this rather idealistic? Sure.

But only the idealistic have heads, hearts, and hands capable of creating the opportunity to “play in the big leagues.”

Speaking of opportunities, I’m guessing you have a portfolio that you hope will afford you lots of opportunities to enjoy retirement. What’s your plan for turning those “nest egg” assets into monthly living expenses once you stop drawing a paycheck? Do you have a plan like that?

And, if you do, does that plan align with your “financial personality”? If not, I’ve got a free gift for you. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and I’ll send you a link to take the RISA® (Retirement Income Style Awareness®) Profile. There’s no charge. It only takes about 15 minutes, and it can save you years of worry. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

“It wasn’t a great deal of money, and if we never got it back, we’d be okay. But should we maybe just write a provision in our will to withhold that amount?”

How would you answer? Here’s what I told them—and what I still think:

Carefully consider what you’re trying to accomplish. Unintended consequences are just as impactful as the ones you meant.

Your will is essentially your final statement to your family. And last words, as the saying goes, are lasting words. Those sentiments will stick in minds and hearts. They’ll be remembered—as much as anything else you said during your life. 

So, choose your words carefully.

If your goal is to exact revenge through your will, a will can be a very useful tool indeed. This is the stuff of mystery novels and legal thrillers. The family gathers around the family lawyer, who reads the will with the verbal intonations of a Shakespearian actor.

“And to my worthless, shiftless son, Charles, I leave this cheap $5 wash bucket, full of the same empty promises he always made to me!” The red-faced Charles storms out of the room, while the rest of the family smiles wryly at just desserts delivered in style.

Nothing in your question makes me think you want revenge. So, let’s look at another option.

Is your goal to bring about justice in your will? That’s what it sounds like. You’re thinking of leaving a generous inheritance to your son, minus the amount he took and never paid back.

If you took this approach, the money would indeed be “paid back” at last. And any other children would be “made whole.” However, you would also mark your son—the one you say has turned his life around—with a brand he’d never be able to wash off. He’d always be “the one who stole from Mom and Dad.” Absent any other actions, that’s what I believe would happen if you pursued justice through your will.

There’s another option—in my opinion, a better one—if you really want to make things right. 

Deal with this situation face-to-face, not through a document. Deal with it while you are alive, not after you are gone. If need be, have a trusted third-party facilitate what might be an awkward conversation.

Tell your son what you are really thinking and feeling. Say something like:

“Son, you know that we love you. We’ve been making out our wills and that triggered the memory of the stolen money. We’ve never brought it up; and neither have you. We know you were sorry, and you’ve done such a fine job of making a good life for yourself. We’re proud of the man you’ve become. But we do feel the need to resolve the outstanding issue of the money you stole.
“What do you think is right? Do you want to pay us back? Or would it be better if we just made a provision in our wills that addressed that issue upon our deaths? We can do that in our wills, but we didn’t want to take that action without talking with you first.”

You get the idea. Don’t limit yourself to these words. Make them your own, and say them in your unique way. The specific words that come from your mouth are not as important as the sentiment that comes from your heart. If you’re kind and gracious, and your desire is for true reconciliation and peace, that’s what will be heard loud and clear. 

Justice done through a will too often comes across as vengeance. 

A loving conversation can work wonders. And it will be immeasurably healing to your family after you’re gone.

If you’re wrestling with good questions like this one, make sure you ask all the right ones. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com and I’ll send you my free list of “30-Something Questions for People Who are 60-Something.”

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

You can go back and read my column from December 11^th, but in summary I discussed the importance of dying well, living well, being “whole,” and remembering the truth that “life compounds.”

The other four challenges I gave those students?

• Develop response-ability. This idea comes from Stephen Covey’s bestselling book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Here’s the gist:

We have little to no control over so much in life: inflation, interest rates, the war in Ukraine, decisions by the Supreme Court, your parents’ divorce, the color of your skin, your country of origin.

Re-active people see such things as happening to them. Their common reaction is happiness or satisfaction if they like a certain reality. It’s disappointment, fear, or anger when they dislike a thing.

The response-able person also sees these realities as “impacting my life.” However, he or she goes the extra step of saying, “Now I get to choose how I will respond to this situation.”

Developing this kind of response-ability is perhaps the greatest superpower you could ever have in life. Very few acquire this mindset, and it won’t be easy for you either, but in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. It’s worth the effort.

• Love people, use things—not the other way around. People that develop this perspective grow in their satisfaction with life and enjoy great relationships. People who don’t, don’t. It’s that simple.

Think about it. Do you prefer to be loved or used? Just as I thought. So, do the same for others. That will go a long way toward helping you live the good life. 

• Fail wisely. This is not an invitation to foolishness. Rather, it’s a call to summon up your courage and pursue worthy goals. 

Failing wisely means you research and prepare. Then, at the right time, you launch. You take worthwhile risks. For example, you…

• Change your major to something you think you’d love and be good at 
• Stay in a major that is really hard—but that you know will be worth it
• Ask her out on the date 
• Apply for that dream job
• Ask for the promotion
• Try to fix the relationship you broke (i.e., you take full responsibility, offering no excuses) 

“But what if I fail?” 

What if you do? A wise man once said, “Success is never final, and failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” 

Which leads to my final point…

• Don’t stop. I’ve given you an outline for discovering, developing, and living a good, successful life. But you won’t get it right the first time. In fact, you will fail…at times, perhaps miserably. 

That’s okay. Keep going! Most people let failure intimidate them into inaction. They give up, ascribing their failure to who they are rather than to what they tried to do. That’s tragic. Our failures don’t define us. On the contrary, they can actually help us become the best versions of ourselves. But only if we let them.

You’re in college to learn. One of the most significant things you could ever learn is that you are a person designed to live a good life. You’re capable of serving others and doing great things. And you will…if you keep growing and going.

That’s a resume anyone could be proud of.

If you know a young person who could benefit from these reminders, please pass them along.

And if you’re a few years (or decades!) beyond college, I’ve got a book for you. It’s called How to Put Your Money Worries in the Rear View Mirror – The Financial Freedom Roadmap. It’s free if you’d like a copy. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com, and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

In fact, I’m scheduled to do that tomorrow. 

Here are the four reminders/suggestions I plan to share with them.

Die well. Soon after you arrived on campus, you realized, “Not everybody thinks the way I do.” That’s actually a good thing. We mature best in that kind of diverse, challenging environment. 

But that doesn’t mean you put your mind in neutral, or to pretend that all beliefs and ideas have equal merit. That is certainly the spirit of the age, but it is also rubbish. Ideas should be analyzed and put to the test. The ones that ring true and can withstand rigorous scrutiny should be embraced. 

But that’s the ideal. In reality, your classmates will leave this place seeing and interpreting the world in wildly different ways. Even so, there’s at least one truth all can agree on. One day, we will exit, not just this university, but this life. For that reason, we should want to die well. 

How do we do that? That leads us to my second suggestion.

Live well. What does that phrase even mean? What does it look like to “have a good life”? Sadly, most students pick colleges, majors, jobs, even spouses without wrestling deeply with this question. (Despite the fact that one of the original purposes of a university was to get young minds to explore that very topic — “what is the good life?”)

If you aren’t sure how to answer the question, there are many advertisers, prosperity preachers, performers, politicians, social media influencers, etc. who are more than happy to give their opinion.

I suggest you start your own exploration of the good life by following a third suggestion.

Be whole. In my view, you’re made up of at least three overlapping facets. You are body, soul, and spirit. So is everyone else around you. 

If you want to live a good life, you need to define what “good” means for each part of who you are. Leave out one dimension of your personhood and your experience will be fragmented. Incomplete. Unsatisfying.

Some people focus almost exclusively on their physical body, but pay scant attention to their spiritual growth. Others develop their minds, but not their emotional capacity to care for others. You get the idea.

The simple awareness that personhood involves a complex integration of body, mind, emotion, and spirit can help you begin to define what a good life looks like for you. So can the realization that these aspects of yourself are meant to cooperate, not compete, with each other.

That successful integration gets more important over time, because,

Life compounds. To impress upon my clients the importance of long-term investing, I often show them a compound interest chart depicting the growth of $100 invested at 8% interest over 40 years.

After 10 years, that $100 has become $197. After 20 years, it’s grown nearly 4x ($386). After 30 years, it’s approaching a return of 8x ($761). And after 40 years, it’s worth almost 15x the original investment ($1,497)!

In contrast, what happens if you carry a credit card balance of $500 long-term? Assuming an 18% interest rate, that $500 on your credit card will cost you over $2,000 over 10 years. Over 20 years, it will cost you some $13,000. Over 30 years, you’ll have paid $70,000 in interest. Carry that $500 balance for 40 years, and the cost is more than $375,000!

Life works like that. Good stuff often takes a while to show up in the win column. And bad stuff does mind-boggling damage over time. 

Thankfully, we have the freedom to make choices. 

This is why it’s foolish to abuse the only body you’ll ever have. And why it’s so important to develop your mind. It’s why you don’t want to neglect family relationships and friendships. Or put off what you believe about God (or more importantly, what God believes about you). 

Those choices result in real consequences.

Next week, I’ll share the rest of my talk on things every college student should know.

Chances are you’re a few years (decades?) past college. That’s okay. I’ve written a book for you. It’s called How to Put Your Money Worries in the Rear View Mirror – The Financial Freedom Roadmap. It’s free if you’d like a copy. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com, and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

For many of us, the day was full of family, feasting, football and Friday…endless advertisements about Black Friday and the “don’t you dare miss this” sales that go with it. 

One of my family’s simple traditions is to go around the table during the Thanksgiving meal and each share (at least) one thing for which we are thankful. Over the years of doing this, Melinda and I have heard everything from the silly and trivial to the profound and meaningful. 

For me this year, my “thankful” was “for hope in hard things.”

Hard things are part of life. But if you’re like me, you really hope you won’t experience those hard things. 

Let me admit it. I hate hard.

But in a way, I also love it. But always and only afterward. Never during.

This year’s financial markets give us a picture of the pain and yet the productivity of hard. 

When the Fed raised interest rates so severely, not only did the stock market give up the ghost, but so did the bond market. Most of the time, bonds are a useful ballast to the volatile nature of stocks. When stocks go down, bonds have historically held their value or even gone up.

Not this time. This time bonds fell almost as much as stocks did. In fact, this was the worst year for combined stock / bond performance in a generation. 

This market has been…hard.

Yet, in the midst of this hard market season, the seeds of hope for tomorrow have been sown. When markets decline, pencils sharpen and companies tend to regain their focus. The strong tend to survive and the weaker, less profitable companies are plowed under. For the broadly diversified investor, these “bear” markets create a distinct survivorship bias, automatically sending our capital to enterprises better able to steward it. 

It isn’t a pretty or a perfect process…in fact, it’s downright hard. But for those with eyes to see, it is a thing we can be thankful for…eventually. 

There’s something else I’m thankful for this year.

My daughter lives in New York City. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020, New York City was dubbed “the epicenter of the worldwide pandemic.” Struggling to find an appropriate response, Elizabeth and her friend Audrey Elledge turned to their artistic tool of choice – words. 

What began as a simple offering to their church became a newly published book, Liturgies for Hope – Sixty Prayers for the Highs, the Lows, and Everything in Between. 

Elizabeth’s book is about hope in the hard things of life. Hard things like doubts about God, doubts about yourself, fears, broken relationships, career disappointments, financial setbacks, health struggles or paralyzing self-consciousness. 

Life is hard. And I won’t lie – I hate that part.

But in my more reflective moments, I’m also thankful that life has woven in with the hard times, reasons for hope. And in that hope, paths to healing.

My advice this week is pretty simple – get Elizabeth’s book Liturgies for Hope. Either you or someone you love needs to know there is hope in the hard.

Let me know what you think.

If “hard things” describes your financial life, I’ve created a comprehensive checklist of pre-retirement questions for people who are 60-something. It’s free if you’d like a copy. Just email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com, and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

For the next 4-5 months, every Friday through Sunday—okay, almost every day that ends in “y”— big, strong young men (and Tom Brady) will suit up and take to the gridiron. 

What’s fascinating is that these gifted athletes will listen to and follow the instructions of coaches twice as old and half as strong. 

If legendary coaches Nick Saban and Bill Belichick—both 70 now—tried to strap on a helmet and compete alongside their players, the results would not be pretty. 

Yet their players hang on their every word. Why? Because they know their coach isn’t competing against them, he’s trying to get the best out of them. He’s BEHIND them and FOR them. And because he has experience and credibility, he has enormous influence. He’s earned their trust—not just as a coach, but also as a mentor.

To me, this is an encouraging reminder for those us in the workforce who are, shall we say, “more seasoned.” We can use our life experiences and business wisdom to serve younger workers. How do we do that? Three ways:

1. Give affirmation to others. I think it was Ken Blanchard who suggested, “Wander around and catch people doing things right.” And each time you do, offer genuine, thoughtful affirmation. 

This isn’t about being the office cheerleader. I’m not suggesting you offer meaningless “rah-rah” bromides that no one believes, much less takes seriously. This is about you really studying others, identifying something that is both true and valuable about them, and then letting them know. 

“Joe, I’ve noticed that you take a great deal of care when preparing these monthly reports. I want you to know I appreciate it – it makes life a lot less stressful knowing I can count on these things being accurate when you handle them.”

A comment like that may not seem like much to you, but my guess is that Joe will work even harder to make sure those monthly reports are perfect every time.

2. Grow confidence in others. Affirming others is good. But that alone isn’t enough. We have to help people believe in themselves. 

This is where it gets tricky. People have to try things and experience a little success to become confident. But they also need some confidence to get going in the first place! 

Somewhere between “You want me to do WHAT?” and “No problem!” stands a mentor who knows how to push without being pushy. Stretching others without breaking them is an art. 

Learn to do that and your impact in the workplace will be huge.

A third thing you can do is to…

3. Develop competence in others. Years ago, the late Donald Tabb told me how he developed others. He used a five-fold process: tell them why, show them how, get them started, keep them going, and help them to reproduce. 

Developing competence in others begins with helping them know why and how a thing should be done. But that information alone will not overcome the powerful inertia that is fear of the unknown. 

A good coach gets the process started. Then, he or she keeps it going through specific action steps and a plan of accountability. And you’ll know true competence has been developed when those you’re mentoring turn around and take others through the same process.

The key to having a big impact? Focus less on yourself and more on serving and building up others.

Devote yourself to a consistent professional habit of giving affirmation, and developing confidence and competence in those younger than you. You’ll make a difference. And you may actually stay younger longer.

To help you think through the financial implications of aging, I’ve created a comprehensive checklist of pre-retirement questions for people who are 60-something. It’s free. Email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com, and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Author Donald Miller got me thinking about stories, characters, and plots with his terrific new book Hero on a Mission. Drawing inspiration from great story tellers of the past, Miller argues that all great stories have four primary characters: the victim, the villain, the hero and the guide. 

Using his own life as an example, Miller suggests most of us play all four of those roles at different times in our lives—sometimes even in a single day! But depending on which roles we choose to inhabit most, our lives will be either satisfying or frustrating. Energizing or boring. Hopeful or fearful.

Let’s explore those four roles briefly.

Victims are those who have been treated wrongly. Naturally, they feel helpless—at the mercy of people, circumstances, and events. However, if they embrace a victim mindset long-term, they tend to give up and become negative. 

Villains are actually victims that never processed their pain. When complaining didn’t get the desired results, the villain’s mission became to make others equally miserable.

What about heroes? For most of us, that word conjures up images of Superman or Black Panther. But in stories, heroes don’t begin as powerful figures. Usually, they’re just victims who decide to embark on a more meaningful mission. (Think: Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, or Harry Potter in the J.K. Rowling series.)

And guides? They’re wise, mature heroes who’ve learned enough to lead others out of victimhood into hero-hood. 

Miller confesses to living far too many of his young adult years as a victim – blaming others, wandering aimlessly, feeling depressed. But a progression of events (read the book!) led him to a decision—that he would accept responsibility for the direction and quality of his life. And in that moment, he began experiencing a more meaningful life.

I harp on this idea because every day I see people living out these four roles in their financial lives.

Victims take jobs they don’t like—and settle for inadequate pay. They figure life has dealt them a bad hand—”and there’s nothing I can do to change that!” To them, saving money is useless. Planning for the future is a waste of time. “Why bother? Everyone and everything are conspiring against me.”

Villains set out to make others small. “If I’m miserable,” they reason, “everybody else needs to pay.” Villains cause drama in the workplace. They try to sabotage the professional reputations of others. They start rumors and strategically withhold information. They’re experts at the warfare of office politics.

Heroes are flawed, but they are also progressing. They take responsibility for their financial future. They accept that challenges will come and setbacks are inevitable. But heroes never give up. They remain in pursuit of their goals, largely because in their corner they’ve got …

Guides only play a supporting role in most stories, but it’s a hugely important one. (Think: Yoda in Star Wars or Gandalf in The Hobbit.)

I’ve actually found the role of Guide to be the most satisfying role in life. 

We should continue playing the hero all our days. But once a hero has made real progress, where’s the next challenge? Answer: In guiding others. Specifically, helping someone move from victim to hero of their own story. 

In matters of personal wealth, that can be a parent coaching a child to grow out of being an immature consumer into becoming a mature value-creator. It can be mentoring a junior executive to fail, learn, recover and eventually thrive. It can be an advisor showing a client how to turn their fiscal jigsaw puzzle into a financial masterpiece. 

To recap: Even if you feel stuck in a certain role—and a not-so-great story—you’re not. You get to choose the role you will play, and to a large degree, the story you will live.

Right now, the world (including the world of finance) has enough victims and villains. What we need are more heroes and guides. Choose those roles.

On a related note, I recently created a comprehensive checklist of pre-retirement questions for people who are 60-something. It’s free if you’d like a copy. Just email me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com, and I’ll send it to you right away.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

In fact, Howard Hendricks used to recommend “Thanksgiving Therapy.” He suggested writing the phrase “I’m thankful for…” on a pad of paper, then listing all the specific reasons you’re grateful. 

It’s a powerful exercise. Try it and you’ll discover—as I have—that Dr. Hendricks’ advice produces at least eight profound benefits!

1. Giving thanks can shift your outlook. If you find yourself obsessing over problems, the simple act of giving thanks can spark a mental shift. It’s impossible to fixate on bad things when your mind is busy focusing on good things. 

2. Giving thanks can reduce stress. As your mindset gradually shifts from a 100% problem focus to even just a 50-50 problem/blessing focus, you will likely experience your stress levels decreasing. 

3. Giving thanks can rein in wild emotions. Emotions are the early warning systems in our lives (for good and for bad). While helpful when monitored and understood, emotions can be disastrous when uncontrolled. 

Imagine allowing a wild hog to roam free inside your house all weekend. My guess is you’d come home to unwanted messes in all sorts of places. In a similar way, unchecked emotions leave fear, cynicism, and distrust in all the wrong places.

Again, the simple act of giving thanks trains our emotions to notice the positive, not just the negative. Before long, we find fear giving way to peace and even optimism. 

4. Giving thanks can improve your relationships. Negative people often struggle relationally. The reason isn’t hard to figure out. Negativity repels others. But when you grow in thankfulness, people in your life start realizing you’re grateful for them! And who doesn’t like being where they’re appreciated?

5. Giving thanks can open your mind to creative possibilities. Negative thoughts have a way of “clouding” our minds. And when we can’t see, we tend to hunker down and get cautious. 

Expressing gratitude acts to blow those dark clouds away. Thankfulness opens our minds to possibilities we’ve been unable to see, or that we’ve forgotten. This, in turn, unleashes the extraordinary creativity we all possess—but which too many of us keep stifled under a million negative thoughts. 

6. Giving thanks can make your world bigger. A problem-filled world seems small and oppressive. A possibility-filled world feels big and expansive. In a real sense, when you open up gratefully to the world, the world opens up to you. As you look for reasons to be thankful (some might call this optimism), the world starts to feel limitless. 

7. Giving thanks can help identify solutions. This expanding world holds all sorts of solutions for the circumstances in your life you now call problems. 

I’m not suggesting that a naïve, Pollyanna approach to life will rid you of your problems. Quite the opposite actually. Many of our problems will never fully go away. For those, we need as much help as possible. 

I’ve found that giving thanks often begins the process of helping me find the solutions I need to cope with the intractable problems I face.

8. Giving thanks reminds you of your priorities. A problem-focused person has only one priority – keeping track of all their problems. That’s not what any of us would choose (if we could always see clearly). Sadly, it’s what many of us subconsciously choose, most days. 

What’s most important in your life? Are you giving thanks for that today?

Pull out that sheet of paper. Spend 30 minutes doing a little “Thanksgiving Therapy.” 

When you’re done, I suspect you’ll be grateful for one more thing: 

The amazing power of the simple act of giving thanks. 

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.

Ideally, you’ve spelled out your wishes—and contingency plans for scenarios like this—in a written will. If not—and assuming you never get around to writing a will—Louisiana (assuming you live here) will use its “laws of intestacy” to essentially create a will for you. 

In short, Louisiana law will decide who gets what out of your estate. 

Depending on circumstances, a court may award portions to your spouse, children, siblings, cousins, or even your parents. 

Some folks are okay with this. Many, however, want more of a say in who gets their estate. 

So back to our original question: Suppose you outlive the person or people to whom you planned to leave your estate? Consider this scenario:

Let’s say you have five children. Four of them have kids of their own. The fifth is childless.

Let’s also say you want to treat your kids equally. Since your estate is worth $500,000, you envision each child inheriting $100,000 at your death. 

But suppose one of your children (with children) dies. Do you then want your inheritance split only four ways—thereby ignoring your grandchildren? Or would you prefer for the deceased child’s portion of your estate to be split equally among his or her children (i.e., your grandchildren)? 

And what about the fact that your children have differing numbers of offspring? One, as mentioned, has none, another has one child. Another has six.

Not so simple, is it?

The most common approach I’ve seen is to split things equally among one’s children, with portions going equally to grandchildren if their parent is deceased. But just because this is common doesn’t make it right for you.

Sometimes circumstances call for unequal treatment. 

• You may want to give a larger share to a child with a special need.

• You may be uncomfortable leaving a large sum of money to a child who struggles with substance abuse, or laziness, or who has a history of impulsive, unwise behavior. Not wanting to enable them (or ruin them), you may wish to give them a lesser share (or no share at all). 

• You may decide to give a certain child a larger share because that child has sacrificed a significant portion of their life and gone to great expense to care for you and/or your spouse. 

These examples are certainly not recommendations. Good people can (and do) disagree over how to handle such delicate situations.

But without a will, they will be handled one way only—according to the dictates of Louisiana law. (And that law will be applied by some judge who probably doesn’t know anything about you.) 

If you believe that you—not the state—know best how to distribute your estate wisely, see a lawyer and draft a will. A competent attorney will make sure to account for contingencies like the ones discussed here.

And for practical advice in how to grow an estate that you can one day pass on, write to me at bmoore@argentadvisors.com. I’ll send you my free e-book “How to Put Financial Worries in Your Rear View Mirror.” There’s no cost and no obligation.

Argent Advisors, Inc. is an SEC-registered investment adviser. A copy of our current written disclosure statement discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request. Please See Important Disclosure Information here.