Grand Slam

Read Time / 2 Minutes

Theme / Financial Planning

My coach was scowling as he looked at me and said, “Your eyes are red!”  There was no getting around the fact that I had not listened to my coach, and now I was caught.  I was ten years old and trying to enjoy all the fun that summer had to offer, including spending afternoons at the community pool and evenings playing little league baseball.  Our coach, however, had made it clear that on game days we were not to go to the pool during the day, knowing that it would tire us out for the game that night.

I was determined to make it up to my coach during the game, and with a little luck, I did.  The bases were loaded when I came to bat.  I hit the first pitch and saw the ball go over the second baseman’s head, roll through the legs of the centerfielder, and keep rolling on the newly cut grass.  I ran the bases as fast as a slow runner could, barely beating the relay throw to home plate, and winning the game for my team.  Later that week, my coach bought me a large A&W root beer float in celebration.

Baseball was important to me as a grade-schooler, yet I did not always do what was best for my baseball career.  It is easy in life to have goals, yet not stay focused on them.  Investing can be like that too: we can have financial goals yet get side-tracked along the way.

I learned a valuable lesson that day: listen to my coach.  Despite my fortunate hit, I knew that it was due to luck more than to wise preparation.  Proverbs 24:14 reads, “Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”  Just as it is wise in baseball to have a coach and to prepare carefully, it is wise in finances to have a game plan and a coach to help us stay on track.  If we do, our celebration will be more than a large A&W root beer float!

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor

(208) 697-3699

doug@christianwm.com