esrosedotblog

TAKING MY MEDICINE

Our new financial guy is coming today to meet us and to talk about our financial "future" or at least the financial present.

I spend as little time as possible talking with these people. They always want to do something.

I do not want to do anything at all.

But every once in awhile, I have to take my medicine and sit through a "talk" about my money. It is not tasty and it is not nice. But it is necessary.

The call, set by me, at our house is precipitated by the fact that our old financial guy, a woman, moved on to greener pastures. Or away from worn out pastures for her.

She wanted us to go with her but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

We have been with who we have been for many years. 20?

My finances, though not very complex, are complicated enough that I do not want to muddy the waters and simply leave one fund which has been churning out very good returns (12%) for a firm that, while nationally known, is terra incognita for me. To say nothing of the potential of mistakes all around in making the change. IRAs, bonds and other time rated issues are involved.

So, here I am. Making a new aquaintance.

It is like changing doctors. I don't much look forward to that either. When it happens, which it will, I will be as reluctant to go through it all again. The history, the current state of affairs and so on. The same thing I will have to do today.

I have already had my brush with the new team. It is actually a team of three and not an individual manager. I like the two people who I have actually worked with. This is the head guy. No rapport as yet.

We will see.

I am always suspicious that new brooms want to sweep clean. Overtures have been made that would indicate his interest in telling me about annuities or mutual funds. I am not interested. I got out of all that years ago.

I do not fear the markets. Shit, I have been through the two worst downturns of my life and still face the wind of the market. It is bracing. It is clean. No middle men.

We will see.

At least I am not in the same state as Jim Kramer when the meltdown began.

Labels: finance