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A
Noggin Knockin’
September 16, 2002
This summer has been a lot like the market of late. Not much to write home
about. The market is stuck, the economy is stuck, we may or may not go to war
with Iraq and my head hurts.
As I began to put the notes together to write this, I found myself taking
time out to reflect on what we’ve been through so far this year. The market
averages are exacting a toll on everyone’s psyche (even mine) and even though
the end may be in sight, the damage done to this generation of investors may
actually be worse than that of previous market downturns.
Add to that the changes that have gone on with the Christy Investment Group and
the mix gets fairly combustible. In keeping with the time honored tradition of
telling the teacher what I did on my summer vacation, I’ll tell you. Bear with
me – this is good.
My summer was LOUSY thank you and I am a better person because of
it. Undoubtedly the worst of the 46 that I’ve managed to live through.
As you know, I am a travel baseball coach and have been involved with the sport
for the past 41 years. The team that I coach is a good one with the best group
of kids anyone could ever ask for. We finished the year with 56 wins against
just 20 losses. What makes this year different from all of the others is that I
sustained an injury that was not only freakish but almost fatal. You read it
right - nearly FATAL.
I was
walking off the field before one of our tournament games when an errant throw by
our third baseman hit me square in the head. I took it just above and behind the
left ear. Never knew what hit me. Never saw it coming. Witnesses have said that
the ball went about 20 feet in the air after it hit me.
One
minute I’m a walking talking normal person and the next an unconscious coach
sprawled face down on Georgia terra firma.
I wasn’t out long, just a minute or so. After coming to, I knew I was
alive because there is no way that the afterlife could hurt as much as my head
did. I did however believe that the ringing in my ears was the Alleluia chorus.
It was touch and go for a couple of days with me lying in bed thinking
this is it. I’m out of here. I’ve come to realize that you know you’re in
trouble when everyone looking at you has that really concerned look on his or
her face and no one is saying anything.
The first round of headaches abated after about a week and that’s when the
problems started. I won’t go into a great amount of detail except to say that:
1) do not ever get hit in the head with a baseball and 2) if you do, pray!
So far I’ve made light of the fact that I took a baseball upside the head. But
what I’m getting to is VERY IMPORTANT! You see, I’ve been given a second
chance to make sure my affairs are in order, accurate and up to date. If
something happens to you – will you have a second chance?
My mission
for the balance of the year is to ensure that your affairs are in order. So much
so, I am hiring the people necessary to get it done. These are the steps that I
am taking right now. This isn’t made up or trivial – it’s my game plan for
me.
- Will
– is it the way you want it to be? Is it up to date and accurate?
- Life
Insurance – Life Insurance is not an investment, but a means of ensuring
that your life’s plans are complete when you are gone. Can your family
live in the same style and comfort if you happen to die tomorrow?
- Disability
Insurance – What happens if you can’t work because of something
happening to you? What benefits does your company provide? Can you
supplement that with something? When I walked back into my office 2 weeks
after the “beaning”, my desk was exactly as I had left it. What if I
hadn’t been able to come back for 6 months?
- Long
Term Care Insurance – If something happens to me, will my two children
have to risk their futures to take care of me? If I don’t have the
accumulated assets, will they have to pay for my nursing care out of their
pockets?
- Asset
Repair and Redistribution – We will talk about this in our next
article.
A
little on “The Merger”.
Wells Fargo & Company acquired First Allied Securities, our
broker-dealer, recently. We haven’t heard much about it so far, so I’m
concluding that we’ll probably see some changes, but until we hear
differently, it’s business as usual.
A
little on “The Move”.
We have managed to finally get settled into our new offices. I’m happy
to report that all of the boxes made it to the new location and we’ll be
unpacking and rearranging as the spirit moves. Please note that our local
numbers have changed. If you have us on a speed dial or in your Palm Pilot,
please be sure to update the numbers. We’ll be turning off the old numbers at
the end of the September and we don’t want to lose touch with you in the
process.
Recaps.
Recaps for the month of August are in the mail. Please take a minute to review
them to ensure their accuracy. Given the state of market affairs, I’m quite
sure that questions abound. Should you have any, please feel free to contact us
at our new numbers.
As
for my health, I’m now back to working a full schedule and aside from a now
and again headache and a little short-term memory loss, I’m feeling pretty
good about things.
R. A. Christy
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