Adjusting Our Sails

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Retirement Planning

The wind was blowing hard as I skippered my catamaran across the large mountain lake. I was a crew of one, thinking I knew how to captain the ship. When it came time to turn around, I loosened the sail, adjusted the rudder, and anticipated a smooth but swift turn.  Instead, there was a big splash and I was counting fish underwater.  (The wind had caught the sail, whipping it around, knocking me off the boat.)  Once I surfaced, I saw the catamaran quickly drifting away.  I swam like an Olympian to reach it, climbed on board, and sailed back safely to the dock hoping no one saw me.

On the dock was a gentleman with binoculars.  He had been sitting on his balcony watching me attempting to sail.  He told me he was ready to call in an emergency until he saw me resurface and reach the catamaran.  My humiliation was public. 

There are words of wisdom in Scripture: “Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days” (Job 12:12).  Wisdom is applicable to many facets of life, whether it is sailing as a young man, or planning for retirement in later years.  I came across this pithy statement recently and it struck a chord: “You can’t control the wind, but you can adjust your sails.” 

In retirement, we need to adjust our sails – focusing on sources of reliable income.  These sources could include social security, a pension, and income-generating investments like bonds (government, corporate, municipal), annuities (fixed, fixed-index, and variable) and dividend-paying stocks (U.S. and international).

We need to be wise as we encounter winds in our lives and be ready to adjust our sails as needed.  I was knocked off the boat once – and learned from it.  Let us learn to adjust our sails towards reliable income in retirement – and not fall off the boat.

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

208.697.3699

Doug@christianwm.com