Eleanor Hall

As the resident technology lead at One Wealth Advisors, last week I had the opportunity to attend the Coachella of tech conferences: Dreamforce. Dreamforce is sponsored by Salesforce, a company that builds Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems for organizations, including OWA. The theme of this year’s conference was Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it can help different types of companies, including Financial Planning firms, in a variety of areas, such as predictive analytics, risk management and AI enhanced customer solutions.

Estate planning is an integral part of wealth management, and it’s essential to have several basic estate planning documents in place including a will, a durable power of attorney, and an advance medical directive. It’s also important to ensure that the wealth you’ve worked hard to accumulate is effectively and efficiently passed on based on your wishes. Additionally, if you live in a state like California, you will want to avoid the costly and public probate process.

As human beings, sometimes when we set goals for ourselves, we want to see results fast. But focusing on immediate results can get in the way of what we want to achieve in the long run. Think about the get-rich-quick schemes or what the equivalent would be for weight loss, for example. Focusing on the result may lead us to get impatient and do things to self-sabotage.

David’s writing last week touched on perfectionism and creating meaning during his twenties. As someone in my twenties who thinks a lot about what creates meaning in my life, lately I’ve been using the framework of pathways.

When I was in my twenties, I spent the better part of a decade trying to be, as I now reflect upon it, perfect. I was in therapy every week, I read every book on metaphysics that I could get my hands on, and, well, I even did several retreats at Esalen (look it up). Sometime in my forties I arrived at the conclusion that I was already perfect . . . as perfect as I was ever going to be, and as perfect as I needed to be.

On August 6, “Barbie” made a billion. The film, directed by Greta Gerwig, is the second highest grossing release in the history of Warner Bros. So far, it has outpaced Harry Potter (Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and grossed more than “Oppenheimer” and “Spider Man.” It made Gerwig the first female solo director to make a billion dollar movie. Only 28 other people have directed billion dollar movies in Hollywood’s history. All of them are men.

“Goals are for people who care about winning once. Systems are for people who care about winning repeatedly.” I received the above quote in an email last week from ‘Atomic Habits’ author James Clear (which is a terrific book in case you’re curious) and the sentiment really resonated with me.

When I first started college at CU Boulder, there were plenty of opportunities to expand my knowledge and be an engaged student. There were also just as many (if not more) opportunities to skip class and mess around. This is a reality that many parents might be aware of but aren’t necessarily equipped to prepare their kids for. I was fortunate enough to have parents who offered to cover my education expenses, but they were wise enough to implement some ground rules. Any semester that I got below a certain GPA meant that I had to pay for that semester. I started off strong, but I fell short once or twice, which led to graduating with student loan debt.

Several years ago (15 years is now “several” at my age) I took my then 8-year-old son out to play catch. Living in the concrete jungle of Philadelphia, it’s sometimes difficult to find an open space so we ended up in the parking lot of the local elementary school. In hindsight, it was not the smartest decision. After a few throws, he sails one over my head and the ball lands squarely on the rear of a brand new Prius leaving a visible dent. My inner reptile immediately told me to high tail it out of there, but I quickly re-evaluated this impulse and realized that I was right in the middle of a “teachable moment.” I scribbled my name, phone number and a short note on a post-it and took the boy’s hand and together we left this note on the windshield of the Prius. Long story short, the guy contacted me in disbelief that I had done this and was so grateful that he proposed that we split the cost of the repair. Total cost to me: $500.