I wrote a piece the other day about how the landscape of this country is going through a metamorphosis.  Things have changed and I believe will continue to change.  At some point, we will land at what everyone will term “the new way of doing things.”

That brings into question the old mindset of preparing for retirement versus the new way of preparing for retirement.  Although most people on Wall Street and in the financial services business will argue how things always stay the same, I would argue that the landscape has changed.    

So what is different?  The main difference lies in how we approach saving and growing money for retirement.  I had the opportunity to interview John Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Mutual Funds, on the radio the other day.  He would say that you invest for the long-term, don’t make changes, don’t look at your statements, and allow time to work in your advantage. 

I differ with that mindset because of the dangerous assumptions that are made.  With buy and hold investing, there is the assumption that investments were perfectly invested the first time, nothing is changing with those investments that would negatively affect your future, and fundamentally nothing has changed with the markets and the economy. 

No mutual fund remains the best choice forever.  Mutual funds can go through periods where they are not effective or they are out of sync and might require a change.  You can’t marry your investments.  It is also tough to know ahead of time that the way you initially invested your money is still the best way years from now.  Plus, if you are not staying on top of things and reading your statements, how would you even know?   

Finally, I would argue that the financial crisis has caused fundamental changes in our investment landscape.  As a result of this crisis, the worldwide debt crisis has come to life.  To eventually take care of that debt crisis, we are going to lose options that we have had in the past and be forced to make tough decisions.  That in itself starts to change the landscape.

  If you want more information concerning a new mindset when it comes to investing, let's talk further and see if I  can help.  If you have any questions, please feel free to send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or give me a call at 972-386-0384. 

 So, what do you do?  Whether you are managing your own retirement or have someone else that has invested for you, there are three components that are critical for the new mindset of investing.

• Management of risk versus investing – Money has to be managed and changes have to be made versus just staying invested for the long-term.  We don’t have that luxury anymore.

• The environment has to be closely monitored – There is a two fold problem with this one.  First, it takes a lot of time to monitor everything that is happening.  Second, most advisors are too busy making a living to actually pay attention to what is happening. 

• Your future goals have to be monitored – It is not only enough to be invested.  You have to be monitoring where you are going and making sure you are going to get there.