Forefront’s Market Notes: Don't Aim, Just Throw

Don’t Aim, Just Throw

Watching my children play sports brings me an incredible wave of nostalgia every time I set up my folding chair on a sideline somewhere. Growing up, my parents liked sports and signed me up for anything I was interested in, but they also worked a lot, so they couldn’t always make it to my games. My older brother, on the other hand, came to everything.

The nostalgia of his words washed over me this season as I said the same thing to AJ, my son, as he would say to me. AJ plays all over a baseball diamond but was never a pitcher, until this year. He had his success, but at times the wheels would come off. At first, I would run out there and talk about keeping his front shoulder tucked, driving off the rubber with his backfoot, and whatever other mechanical things I was picking up on. It didn’t work. As the season progressed, I remembered my brother’s words to me when I would pitch. “Don’t aim; just throw” became my mantra with AJ. It worked, not just on the mound but in other parts of his life.

Adversity

Overcoming adversity is a difficult lesson to learn, and whether we like it or not, adversity is a part of life. Controlling your emotions in high-pressure situations is a paramount skill set as an adult and one we all get pretty good at with the curveballs that life throws at us.

AJ struggles with stamina in school, he doesn’t want to sit and do Math for an hour, he wants to go over a jump on his bike or jump off something high which takes years off my life. New Jersey, where we live, had state testing a few weeks back that AJ was growing more nervous about as they approached. As he and I talked about it, I found myself saying to him, “Don’t aim; just throw.” At ten years old, he understood what I meant immediately. Don’t let your brain get bogged down by doubt and a need to be perfect, go do what you know how to do, have practiced doing, and are great at doing.

Aiming and Throwing with Money

I caught myself telling a family I serve the same thing a few weeks ago, they just had their third child, and one of them was going to take a sabbatical from work to stay home, thus making them a one-income family. We had planned for this for not only the past nine months but since they decided they wanted to have a third child nearly two years ago.

The issue was that they needed a new car and potentially a new air conditioning unit. As we spoke, I could tell they were close to panic and were blaming themselves for not seeing these things coming. Don’t aim; just throw! Things break, and expenses happen, but they were ready to scrap the whole thing and give up because everything wasn’t going exactly as planned. They were blaming themselves irrationally for something that was out of their control and something that we had ALSO planned for. We call it an emergency fund because it is to be used in an emergency. The income replacement fund we set up, which they contributed, would still replace the income for the sabbatical.

So, What

For many of the families I serve, I appreciate and understand their feelings because I am going through the same emotions as them. After all, we are in the same phases of our lives. I must remind myself to stop trying to aim and just throw daily.

We can’t plan for everything, but that is the nature of risk. Risk is what is left over when we think we have thought of everything. We won’t ever think of anything, but it doesn’t mean we should get bogged down with trying to be perfect, whether trying to save money or throw strikes. Just like when I told AJ to tuck his shoulder, that type of technical guidance wasn’t what they needed; instead, they needed someone who understood their anxieties and reminded them don’t aim; just throw.

Stock market calendar this week:

TIME (ET)	REPORT
MONDAY, JUNE 12
2:00 PM	Federal budget
TUESDAY, JUNE 13
6:00 AM	NFIB optimism index
8:30 AM	Consumer price index
8:30 am	Core CPI
8:30 AM	CPI year over year
8:30 AM	Core CPI year over year
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14
8:30 AM	Producer price index
8″30 am	Core PPI
8:30 AM	PPI year over year
8:30 AM	Core PPI year over year
2:00 PM	Fed decision on interest-rate policy
2:30 PM	Fed Chair Powell press conference
THURSDAY, JUNE 15
8:30 AM	Initial jobless claims
8:30 AM	U.S. retail sales
8:30 AM	Retail sales minus autos
8:30 AM	Import price index
8:30 AM	Import price index minus fuel
8:30 AM	Empire State manufacturing survey
8:30 AM	Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey
9:15 AM	Industrial production
9:15 AM	Capacity utilization
10:00 AM	Business inventories
FRIDAY, JUNE 16
7:45 AM	Fed Gov. Christopher Waller speaks
10:00 AM	Consumer sentiment

Most anticipated earnings for this week:

Did you miss our blog last week?

Life is 80% Mental, 40% Physical

About Amit: I am a first generation American, the son of a working-class Indian family, and I lived through my parents’ struggle to find their place in this country, to put down roots that would sustain them as well as their children in a new land. As they encouraged me to excel in school and fostered my hobbies and interests, I was keenly aware of the dynamic between them. I understood that there was a difference between where they came from individually and where we were now. They worked hard in their individual capacities, but they weren’t always on the same page about financial issues – and that can make or break a family’s future. I didn’t know it at the time, but this laid the groundwork for my passion towards financial services and helping families succeed.

Forefront’s Market Notes: Don’t Aim, Just Throw