Morin Associates, LLC

What games or sports do you play? What’s your favorite? Some major benefits can be gained in retirement by playing, whether sports or games in general. Especially as long as they include physical activity and/or social interaction. According to the National Institute on Aging, there are several benefits: ?? Less likely to develop certain diseases. Participating in active and social activities may lower the risk of developing some health problems. That can include dementia, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. ???? Increase Lifespan. Playing games (though maybe not losing at certain games ??) has been shown to increase happiness and outlook on life, which has long been associated with those who live longer. ?? Better prepared to cope. As they say, getting older is not for the weak. Difficult things can happen later in life. It has been shown that those who are active socially and mentally – which you can get with playing – are better able to bounce back from difficult situations. ?? Cognitive thinking improves. Participating regularly in mental stimulation or physical activity can positively affect memory. In fact, the wider variety of games you play or activities you are involved with, the better it can be.? If you are planning for or currently living in retirement - what do you play? We would love to hear what games you play. Maybe we’ll challenge you to a round!

Sometimes you come across a story online that must be shared. And shared often. So, while you may have seen this out there, its message should be shared again. Brazilian photographer Sebasti?o Salgado was a highly recognized photojournalist in Brazil. Nearly 30 years ago, he returned to Brazil after having been in Rwanda, photographing the horrible genocide there. As he said, he came back just sick and needing time to heal after what he’d seen. Unfortunately, he came back to an area that had been deforested. What had been a forest was now a desert. Rather than give up, he and his wife decided to rally others and do something about it. Over the next 20 years, they planted 4 million trees. With the help of college students, organizations, and friends, they were able to re-grow the forest. Their work allowed 172 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, 293 species of plants, and 15 species of reptiles to return to the area. There is so much to love about this story! One of the things I love most about it is that rather than giving up in a difficult situation, they set to work, gathered their network, and changed their situation. That’s what each of us has the opportunity to do every day. Let’s take advantage!

“Consider that nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” - Lao Tzu In times like these, when interest rates are rising, inflation remains stubbornly high, and market volatility is a regular news story, I think about this quote. Have you ever seen a major river from above? If so, you’ll have seen how it always takes the easiest course.?Sometimes it flows straight and sometimes it bends and curves. Sometimes it flows fast and strong and sometimes it barely moves. It cannot fight gravity, so it doesn’t try to go uphill. But it always keeps moving to its destination. Compare that to the market.?Sometimes the market trends up, sometimes it trends down. Sometimes the trends are short, other times they are long. Sometimes different sectors of the market will trend in different directions. Our investment philosophy is based on emulating water.?Whichever way the trend goes, we don’t fight it. Like water and gravity, we know that you can’t fight it.?Instead, we adapt to it. Sometimes we must make shifts. But we are always on the lookout for opportunities to invest your money where it will do the most good. Experience has convinced us that this approach, being flexible and adaptable, is the surest way to your destination. If you have any questions or concerns about your portfolio, my team and I are here for you.?Please give us a call.

You’ve heard of FLOW. It’s that mental and physical state where you immerse yourself into your activity and operate at an extreme level of efficiency. It’s an amazing feeling when you get into it, but what does it take to get there? I have found it takes five things: Practice, practice, practice. You need to practice the skills you’ll use during your flow in all different ways. Make that practice stretch you to your limits. Then, when it’s time to perform, your body and mind will be prepared to operate with little to no thought. Eliminate distractions. In the office, give yourself a power-hour at least once a day. Put your cell phone away, turn off notifications on your computer, and let others know to not pass you phone calls. Maybe even take that smart watch off and set it aside. Set clear goals for what you will accomplish by the end of that hour. Maybe you’ll make 20 phone calls. Maybe you’ll write that whole article. Maybe you’ll clean out your inbox. Whatever it is, decide what will be completed by the end. Make your goals challenging. You want to push yourself in your flow time. If you aren’t giving everything you have to the activity, distractions can sneak in. Even if they are just thoughts on what you’ll eat for dinner. Take care of yourself physically. Your body can be a machine, but you need to feed it the right energy through a healthy diet. You also need to let it fully rest by getting enough sleep. I know both of those are easier said than done, but the closer you get to perfection in both, the better your body and mind can operate. I’ve found that getting into a flow more often brings greater joy and satisfaction with that activity. Here’s to a productive week with plenty of flow time for all of us.

Today we celebrate the one and only home to all of us. A little over 4.5 billion years old, weighing in at almost 6 billion trillion metric tons, and boasting over 70% water coverage on its surface… it’s the EARTH! There are so many ways we can support the Earth and make a difference. This year challenge yourself to do one thing to better the Earth. Here are some ideas if you need a few: -?????????Reduce your use of plastics. -?????????Shop sustainable fashion. -?????????Volunteer at a local cleanup project in your community. -?????????Use your voting power to protect our environment. -?????????Plant a tree. -?????????Educate yourself on the importance and value of our natural resources. -?????????Use reusable shopping bags. -?????????Choose non-toxic cleaning chemicals. -?????????Use less water. Celebrate the Earth today by showing it some attention and love!

Different versions of this quote are out there, but it’s the heart of Maya Angelou’s message that’s really got me thinking. Life’s beauty lies in the simple truth that we continually learn and apply new knowledge to the way we see the world. I’ve made my share of mistakes, and decisions that, at the time seemed good, but now make me cringe.?I’m not the same person I was a year ago, let alone 5 years ago.?I doubt high-school-me would even recognize the me I am today.?We all know this about ourselves, but the other side of this is granting ourselves grace. Forgive ourselves for past mistakes and not-so-great decisions and recognize that we were learning and growing.?And allow ourselves to continue growing. Every day, we encounter new information, and it’s ok for that information to change our minds.?For us to change and to see another side that we hadn’t previously considered.?And when we do that, we can allow ourselves to know better and then do better.?

More Things I’m Watching Now Today, I want to discuss inflation, but maybe not for the reason you initially think. You see, inflation is tough. We all feel it when we go to the store. I see it at restaurants, too, with smaller portions for higher prices. My concern is that those price shocks cause retirees to make decisions that are contrary to their long-term interests. A report in Kiplinger’s discussed that 42% of retirees expressed a loss of confidence. 58% of them are concerned they will have to cut spending1. I worry that this fear and uncertainty regarding overall savings and investments might lead some to feel the need to move to more income-oriented or stable value-type investments. The problem with those more stable investments is they will not help some retirees maintain the growth in their investments necessary to fund a full retirement. Retirement can last decades for many. Your investments need to fund your spending through all those years. We should discuss your financial plan if you are concerned about inflation and rising costs. My team and I would be happy to run several scenarios to ensure your plan is highly likely to succeed over the decades. That long-term plan will guide the investment allocations you should have now to grow by “enough.” 1 https://lnkd.in/e9y2JbVX.

I am fascinated by treasure hunters. Modern-day treasure hunters are very different from those you see in the old movies. In those movies the treasure hunters search by going where others had success, hoping they can find some too. There is usually a lot of intrigue and fighting involved. Lots of science and research goes into hunting buried treasure today. I recently read the story of the ship “Nuestra Se?ora de las Maravillas.” It is likely one of the richest Spanish galleons to sink in the New World. For centuries divers have explored off the coast of the Bahamas in search of the treasures that were on that ship. They searched and dug where others found relics. It is estimated they’ve pulled out 5 million pesos worth of silver and relics over the centuries. Recent technology has allowed a new team to map out a site that is two miles long. They estimate there are relics still down there worth more than $100M. I bet just hearing about this stirs up a little excitement, right? As I watched a video of these treasure hunters, I couldn’t help but think of those investors who are still trying to use the old ways of finding treasure in the markets. There seems to be little research into the risks or evaluating where growth could more easily be found. It’s a lot of chasing after where they see prices that have already risen enough to make the news. The reality is that a more research-based approach to a properly diversified portfolio is more likely to pay off in the long run. Let’s leave the old way of treasure hunting to the movies and stick with properly investing for your future.

If you are reading any business news, you probably saw that Charlie Munger died. He was a great investor, philanthropist, and businessman. In honor of him, here are a few of his quotes that are my favorite: “I realized that if I just avoid all the folly, maybe I can get an advantage without being good at anything.” “To the man with only a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” “In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time – None. Zero.” And finally… “The big money is not in the buying or selling, but in the waiting.”