Planning for the Future

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After a difficult year, 2022 is finally here! Parents, take this time to rest and enjoy your family, but also prepare for the new year. Take the time to be ready for the future and make the most of your family resources.

Why Should You See a Financial Advisor?

The social distancing and stay-athome orders necessitated by the coronavirus have led many of us to feel isolated. Still, we’ve fought back through social media, “virtual” gatherings and walks in the neighborhood, where we could greet friends and neighbors (from 6 feet away). But when you’re dealing with the financial effects of the virus and you’re investing alone, you could encounter some problems that may prove costly.

Of course, with so much investmentrelated information available online, on television and in any number of periodicals, it’s not surprising that some people feel they can invest without any assistance. But the volatility of the financial markets over the past few months has also pointed to the dangers of going solo in the investment world. Andyou might find that a professional financialadvisorcanhelpyouinseveral ways, including the following:

Taking emotions out of investing.

During this period of market turbulence, many self-guided investors are letting their emotions drive their investment decisions. As a result, they sell investments when their price is down, “locking in” their losses. Furthermore, if they then stay out of thefinancialmarkets,theywillmissout on the eventual recovery – and some of the biggest gains in market rallies usually occur right at the beginning. But if you work with a financial advisor who has helped you develop a personalized investment strategy based on your goals, risk tolerance and time horizon, you will be far less likely to react to extreme market conditions by making ill-advised decisions.

Maintaining perspective. When you’re putting away money for the future and you suddenly have a lot less of it, you might start to wonder if that future is somehow in jeopardy. But if you’ve been working with a financial advisor and following your investment strategy, you’ll know that you don’t have to immediately cash out those investments that have lost value, and you may not need to liquidate them for decades if they were designed for a long-term goal, such as retirement. By the time you do need to sell them, their value may well have appreciated significantly. And if you’ve got a wellconstructed portfolio, you’ll also own shorter-term, less volatile investments to help meet your current cash flow needs.

Understanding the history of

investing. The recent market instability is unique in the sense that its cause – a world-wide pandemic – is so highly unusual, and it hopefully will be a oncein-a-lifetime experience. Typically, prolonged market downturns are triggered by explainable financial or economic factors, such as the bursting of the “dot-com” bubble in 2000. However, market drops of 20 percent or more – generally referred to as bear markets – are not at all unusual and have happened every few years over the past several decades. Financial advisors are well aware of this history and share it with their clients. And for many people, the knowledge that “we’ve been here before” is reassuring and makes it easier for them to continue following their in vestment strategies. The road to your financial goals is a long one, with many twists and turns. So you might like to have some experienced company along the way. OP

3 WAYS TO GET YOUR FAMILY more organized

Abig part of ensuring your family has a successful future is conquering the everyday battles. It’s hard to plan your family’s long-term goals when you are worried about what to make for dinner tonight, how the house will ever get clean or solving the puzzle of how to get each kid to their extracurricular activities. tackle your everyday obstacles so that you can start setting your family up for big picture wins.

MASTERING THE MEAL PLAN

Start small.

If you’re a meal planning newbie, don’t bite off more thanyou can chew. Start by planning two meals a week and work yourself up to three, then four. Once you get the hang of it and find the system that’s right for you, you can progress to whateveristhebestfitforyourfamily.

Map out your menu.

This may seem really basic, but putting pen to paper makes all the difference when it comes to implementing a plan. It doesn’t matter whether you use the

notes section of your smartphone, a blank notebook or pad of paper, or a pre-designed meal planning pad from Amazon. Use a combination of TikTok, Pinterest, social media posts from friends or wherever to start adding to your menu. And if that doesn’t work for you,findanappthatwillhelpyouplan out your menu. I’ve used eMeals before and loved it!

Get a grocery game plan.

Once you have your menu set, make your grocery list to go along with it. Keep your grocery list on your phone and organize it based on the layout of your favorite store. For those that opt for curbside pickup, keep track of your grocery list by adding things to your cart as you need them. Making a list also helps avoid those impulse buys just because something looks good or is on sale.

Cook in bulk.

One of the benefits of thinking ahead and planning your meals is that you can make extra of a recipe, so you have enough for leftovers another night or to freeze for a busy week. The little bit of extra time it takes on that day of cooking is more than made up for when you have a defrosted meal on the table in no time.

Take a night off.

You don’t have to meal plan for every night. Give yourself some grace and understand that it’s OK to take a night off and treat yourself to your favorite restaurant.

CREATING A COMMAND CENTER

It can be hard enough to keep track of your own schedule and belongings, much less those of everyone else in your family. If you’re having trouble with both mental and physical clutter, you might want to consider setting up a family command center. The following family command center ideas can help you reclaim some sanity and start the yearofforganized.

A clock A family calendar or schedule Key rings A chalkboard or dry erase board for leaving notes and reminders Hanging wall files for mail, bills or important paperwork Wall files to hold kids’ permission slips, workbooks or homework assignments Clipboards or a magnetized area where kids can show off artwork, good test grades and school photos (limit this to one item per kid to avoid clutter) Shoe rack or bins

FOUR THINGS TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL SUCCESS

1. Time is an ally. The longer you wait, the more you’ll need to invest annually. Start now.

2. Control Debt. Look for low and constant interest rates for the life of debt, which allows budgeting for priorities like retirement.

3. Have an estate plan. Estate planning addresses living wills, health care directives and durable powers of attorney.

4. Diversify. Differenttypesofinvestmentassetsrarely move in unison; don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc. does not provide legal services. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss.

Article provided by Baird for Hobgood Wealth Advisors at the Owensboro office of Robert W. Baird & Co., member SIPC. They have 80 years of combined financial services industry experience and can be reached at 270-297-3485 or jedge@rwbaird.com.

Hooks for coats, scarves or backpacks A chore checklist A binder filled with coupons A space for your meal plan The school lunch menu

A CLEANING SCHEDULE YOU’LL ACTUALLY STICK TO

Cleaning your home doesn’t have to be a daunting, timeconsuming chore. The key to managing household duties quickly and efficiently is to design an easyto-follow routine that includes all

the most important tasks. Follow these step-by-step instructions for creating a customized whole-home cleaning schedule.

STEP 1:

Before you can write a realistic

cleaning schedule for your home, you

need to know what you have to do to

clean it in the first place. It sounds obvious – but most of us haven’t ever

sat and thought about all the jobs

that need doing – we are much more

reactive and get what needs doing

done when we have time. The trouble

with this is that things can easily get

missed, and you can feel stressed

because it never feels finished. Go around your home and for each room

write down everything that in an

ideal world you would clean. Also

write how often you would want to

clean it ideally.

STEP 2:

Group the jobs into how often they need to be done – grouping by frequency makes sense for cleaning because then you can allocate time for them much more easily. This will give you a much better idea of what you will need to do each day/week/ month/season.

STEP 3:

Evaluate your time and make a schedule. We always overestimate what we can get done in a set amount of time, which can so easily lead to disappointment – so really think carefully about all aspects of your life when looking at what time you have available. In your mind, work through your typical weekly schedule, and start to allocate the jobs from your listontospecificdays. OP

HOW TO SET YOUR CHILD UP FOR

FINANCIAL SUCCESS

Whether you’re teaching finances to your kids, grandkids, or those of a loved one, it’s essential to teach children how to manage the money they have. Start by teaching your children about spending. Children need to recognize that purchases cost money and that they can’t just buy everything they want. They must learn toplanaheadsotheycanaffordeverythingtheyneed, showing them why budgeting is a necessity. Next, teach about the importance of saving and setting goals. It’s important for children to understand that saving is actually the secret to getting what they want. In order to do that, they need to recognize the concept of saving with a purpose. Try teaching that creating and sticking to goals is key. Finally, one of the best ways to set your child up for financial success is to open a savings account for them and encourage dialogue aboutfinancialhealth.

HAVE A HEALTHY HOLIDAY SEASON

With the holiday season approaching and COVID-19 cases continuing to rise across the country, make sure you and your family are able to have a healthy holiday. Follow these tips to stay healthy through the holidays.

GET YOUR FAMILY VACCINATED.

Vaccines are our best protection. All three available vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson) are safe and effectively reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.

Booster doses of the vaccine are available for individuals at higher risk.

Children as young as five years old can now be vaccinated. Before celebrating with family, make sure that everyone who can be vaccinated is.

Schedule your vaccine today at OwensboroHealth.org/Vaccine or findotherlocationsatVaccines.gov.

Follow Owensboro Health on Facebook for updates to vaccine availability and other COVID-19 updates for your region.

CELEBRATE WITH SAFE ACTIVITIES.

Large gatherings present a higher risk of contracting COVID-19, but there are lots of lower-risk activities families can do:

Take drives to look at Christmas lights in your neighborhood or at organized light displays. Owensboro Health is sponsoring a free night for the community at Christmas At Panther Creek, the annual holiday drive-thru light display on December 9.

Have a cookie swap with neighbors or friends! Organize participants and have each person drop off their goodies on the doorstep of another participant! This way, everyone gets a treat!

Find joy in giving. Take time to donate to food pantries, toy closets and angel trees to help those most in need.

Send holiday cards. You can send traditional cards to friends and family, but to make things extra special, have your kids create cards to send to nursing homes and children’s hospitals and spread extra cheer.

Have a Christmas movie night! Grab the blankets, pillows and snacks and watch your favorite classic Christmas movie. You can even do a quick internet search and find a list of movies to make it a marathon.

Send a letter to Santa. Grab the kids and write a letter to Santa from the whole family.

ADJUST YOUR HOLIDAY GATHERINGS.

Keep gatherings small. The more people at your gathering, the higher the risk.

Indoor activities where people fromdifferenthouseholdsmixarea higherriskforeveryone—especially for unvaccinated individuals. Hold your gathering outdoors if possible.

Serve food and drinks in individualservingsinsteadof“buffet style” and provide hand sanitizer in multiple locations.

Face masks are recommended at gatherings where not everyone has been vaccinated.

Because vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals can carry COVID-19 without showing symptoms, wear a mask when around people who are vulnerable to more serious outcomes if infected with COVID-19.

STAY HOME IF YOU MIGHT BE SICK.

It might feel disappointing to miss out on a holiday party, but it will feel worse if you are responsible for spreading the virus to other partygoers.

Do not attend celebrations or participate in activities if you feel sick, or if you have come into close contact with someone who has COVID-19 - especially if you are not fully vaccinated.

BE VIGILANT.

Monitor your family for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days after participating in any festivities. Pay special attention from days 3-7, when people are most likely to develop symptoms.

If you had close contact with someone who later tests positive, you should get tested and stay home to quarantine if you’re not fully vaccinated. If you do not feel well, or if you test positive, stay home to isolate yourself regardless of your vaccination status.

BE FLEXIBLE.

Have a conversation with your family members to set expectations about celebrating. Be considerate of other family members that may be more or less comfortable attending gatherings. OP

Out & About

EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES FOR OWENSBORO FAMILIES

Owensboro Dance Theater’s Nutcracker // Photo provided by ODT HOLIDAY HOLIDAY FUN FUN GUIDE! GUIDE!