Hello friends,

We hope everyone is having a good week as we enter September and fall begins to feel more like a reality, and kids go back to school.

Our thoughts are with the people of the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ida has caused massive damage in Baton Rouge and Louisiana. The good news is that the levee system performed extremely well, according to Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards. What’s also good is that while this is going to have a big effect on the residents of Louisiana, the national economy should farewell, so we are not making big changes to our recommendations for asset allocation at this time.

That said, the damage wrought by the hurricane is severe, and over 900 search and rescue personnel from 16 states are in the area, plus the Louisiana National Guard, to help people impacted by the storm. If you are interested in making a financial contribution to help the people in the Gulf Coast, the Red Cross remains the best place to send money as far as impact per dollar. We will continue to keep the people in that area in our thoughts as they recover from this storm.

It’s been a challenging year in many ways, but the good news for many people is that students are returning to in-person schooling. Many parents are happy to be able to return to work, or at least not be managing their kids’ at-home learning. Kids are thrilled to be back with their friends and teachers and make those meaningful social connections. Teachers, too, are glad to be able to teach face to face. While school looks different this year than it has in the past, being able to create social connections is a benefit to students and teachers alike.

That’s it for us this week. We hope anyone involved with back to school stuff has a terrific beginning to the school year and that the people of Louisiana make a fast recovery from the storm.

How We Help

This week, Todd met with a client who is planning her retirement. We did a retirement cash flow analysis for her in January, according to her objectives and goals. When we did the cash flow analysis, it turned out that she could retire on time and live her ideal future as she described it to us, which involves wonderful plans to travel the world. She gave this good news some thought and called back, asking if we could run through some scenarios with her, like whether she could retire early and still travel or if retiring early meant curtailing her travel plans. Now we can continue the planning process and answer those questions for her so she’s armed to make that decision. This is a great example of why it helps to make these plans early!

Advisory Services offered through Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC. Securities are offered through Triad Advisors, member FINRA/SIPC. Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, LLC, and Obsidian Personal Planning Solutions, Inc, are not affiliated with Triad Advisors.