Each year when the holidays arrive and the new year is around the corner, we reflect on our decisions and experiences over the past twelve months (perhaps especially after 2020!): what we did well, what we learned, what we could have done differently, or how we want to improve for the next year. Improving organizational skills is a common theme for many, as we strive to get ahead of what’s coming while tidying up what’s already happened. To help as you think through ways to better organize your life, let’s address the ways in which you can improve and check in on your financial life so you can start 2021 feeling proactive.
What 2020 Has Taught Us About Our Personal Finances
2020 has taken us on a ride of the unexpected and unpredictable… From a global pandemic, mandated quarantines, and market volatility to a presidential election with record voter turnout, this year continues to shine a light on what we have typically taken for granted. A major part of the conversation surrounding the events of 2020 is how it affected us financially. An all-time high for jobless claims in the United States led to economic challenges only comparable to the Great Depression and Great Recession.
With so many struggling, people have been forced to adjust their approach to their personal finances including spending, saving, and investing.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing Explained
As environmental and social justice matters continue to make national headlines, you may be wondering if your financial investments align with your personal beliefs and values.
In recent years, the concept of socially responsible investing gave rise to the practice of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing, which uses those guidelines to build a sustainable and ethical portfolio. Potential investments are screened for a variety of factors in each category to ensure that investments are made in companies whose leadership has demonstrated through ethical practices and policies that they care about people and the planet. Like all investing, there are both pros and cons, and it’s important to work with a financial company or advisor who is transparent and trustworthy when deciding if and how to begin ESG investing.
Access to Saving for Retirement
The lack of Americans’ retirement savings, referred to as “retirement insecurity”, is a topic we are hearing more and more about as the Boomer generation ages into retirement. Private company pensions are few and far between these days, putting the onus of saving for retirement on individuals, rather than corporations. Compounding the issue of the lack of retirement savings is the fact that Americans are living longer and will need to save more to cover living expenses and potentially higher medical costs later in life. Elected officials have responded to the potential crisis by enacting legislation such as the SECURE Act (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) and the OregonSaves program.
The Psychology of Investing
When it comes to investing our hard-earned savings, it’s difficult to remove emotion from our decision making, especially as those savings fluctuate up and down with the market. For most people these assets are grown over decades through saving and hard work – how could we not be emotionally attached? Especially when considering retirement assets, a portfolio can feel like a member of the family; they’ve seen the good times and the bad, from the job we loved to the one we didn’t, from our youngest child’s wedding to our first health scare. However long you’ve been invested, it’s likely that you know the feeling of watching the markets drop and the inevitable sinking stomach feeling. Perhaps that feeling and the corresponding worry stayed with us longer than it took for the market and our portfolios to recover and now informs our current financial decision-making. Why then, can few of us mark the moments in time when our investments grew significantly and we celebrated their success?
