Trading Stability for Significance

Have you heard of Hemmingway’s shortest story?  He was known for his short stories, but this one won him $10.  When challenged to come up with the shortest of stories, he came back to his peers proud of this six word story… “For sale, baby shoes, never worn.”  It’s a story so short that it could fit into a title yet it resonates with depth and tragedy, immediately conjuring emotion and imagery.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to writer and leadership trainer, Kevin Paul Scott, who led a group of us through an activity of introspection.  Six words.  That’s it.  If you had six words to tell your story, what would they be?  Oprah’s is “Seeking the full expression of self”.  Taylor Swift, “My diary is read by everyone”.  John Mayer, “This heart didn’t come with instructions.”  What’s the story that pulls you forward, get’s you to hop out of bed, excites your day?  It’s a hard one, right?  Exactly …and only six words.  Mine…  “Giving away more than I receive”.

I LOVE this time of year.  Not for the holidays, because I am not a fan of decorating and undecorating my house… I’m a numbers girl.. just having the house done the first time was a lot of work.  I love this time of year because it opens up moments to be introspective, to stop life for a minute and dream, cast visions, think of those big hairy audacious goals.  You can certainly do that anytime of the year, but this time of the year calls to you… to start fresh each January 1.

I picked up Kevin’s Book “8 Essential Exchanges” after his talk.  Chapter One.. Exchanging Stability for Significance.  He didn’t dip his toes in, he jumped all the way in, hitting at the core.  How comfortable are you?  I like stability.. we all do.  But stability doesn’t lead to significance nor legacy.  You and I are in a job where we can quickly get comfortable and the pay will be good, even with little effort.  But what if we were willing to exchange security for fulfillment, where we were unwilling to settle for less than the purpose for which we were created?

Next weekend, I quiet out the world to dream, to pencil out what has not yet been achieved but must.  Next weekend is when I set my goals, then on November 18th at Agent Ignite, we will set them together.  On December 11th, I am charged with casting my vision to my team at our annual Team Retreat.  Then on January 20-21st, we kick off significance together as a real estate community at the Next Big Thing.  This season is powerful and exciting.  Let’s make a difference in as many lives as we can… changing the trajectory of wealth for generations to come through real estate.

The Fed Not Committing

Powell has moved away from calling inflation transitory… he is now saying it’s lingering; however, he stands by the cause for the inflation, i.e. the supply chain issues, being transitory.  This dovish tilt on his taper announcement on Wednesday sent the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrials and the Nasdaq all to record highs. It also sent the 10-year note yield to a session high of 1.606%, up seven basis points from early morning levels.

So what was said at this week’s Fed Meeting?  Several comments caught my attention… first was that they are not committing to any longer than 2 months.  The Fed announced that they are tapering their current $40 billion in mortgage backed securities purchases by $5 billion a month and their $80 billion in Treasury purchases by $10 billion a month.  They will do this for 2 months and see how the stock market and bond market are holding up.  If the tapering continues, the Fed will have stopped their purchases by the end of June.  But remember, they are still repurchasing whenever loans are paid off or principle balances are reduced.  These reinvestments are still hovering around $60 billion a month.

Powell emphasized there has been no discussion about future policy rate hikes, although the Fed’s plan has been to wind up asset purchases before boosting its rate target. That said, the Treasury and financial futures markets have priced in two increases in 2022. The first one-quarter-point increase by next June and a second hike coming by December 2022.

More are Retiring

As the cost of things continue to go up…do you have clients who need to understand their options in a inflating market?  The Rueth Team has your back and their solution!  With rising rates and appreciation, time is not their friend!

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://www.theruethteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/testimonial_image.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Nicole Rueth has been passionately advising clients on their wealth building and home financing strategies for over 17 years. Her path has been non-conventional and it is a benefit to her clients.  www.TheRuethTeam.Com.[/author_info] [/author]