It’s that time of the year. The weather is cold, the holiday high is over, and the statements start rolling in from the holiday season.

The holidays bring in so many ways to indulge in excess that January is often a good time to spend some time in self-review. Whether you are thinking about your finances or your health, there’s a good chance that you’re beginning this year with a renewed sense of commitment to your goals.

There may not be a lot that you can do now about spending more on the holidays than you had anticipated. Just like when your clothes are feeling a bit snug, your pocketbook may also be bursting at the seams. The only way you can assess the situation and make an intentional change is to stare down your finances and review what is still working for you and agree to some changes in the areas that need improvement.

In hindsight

What did your last 3 months look like?
What will the consequences of those choices look like this year?
How did your actions feel at the time? How long did those feelings—good or bad—last?
Now that you’ve seen your statements and your actual debts owed, what would you say to yourself if you were being honest with yourself?

Stand by your word

If you have a bag of clothes, toys, or tchotchkes that you intended to return, now’s the time. Most stores will honor returns within 30 days or offer you a store credit. Returning does not mean buying more. We repeat—do not buy more just because you walked in the store.  Just get the unnecessary items out of the house and back at the store.

How do I make a plan that works for me?

Initially, maybe you’ve decided to drop that once-a-day latte habit or kick the Wednesday fast food dinner run in favor of healthier, quick grocery store options. Perhaps selling that timeshare or getting rid of the boat that constantly needs repair is how you want to start trimming your budget. Maybe you have your parents, adult kids or grandchildren living with you and it’s time for them to start paying for some of the utilities and some rent.

There are two general theories for budgeting:

Continuous Tracking recommends recording every expenditure you make over a sustained period of time. It allows you to see the success of your goals being realized month after month, even as birthdays, holidays, and unexpected emergencies rise up to rear their ugly heads.

Tracking over time also allows an honest review of how much money is actually being spent on consumables and other sundries, such as fast food, restaurant meals, on-the-go beverages or drinks after work and on the weekends with friends. Read here to see a success story of a family who uses Continuous Tracking.

However, Continuous Tracking is often prey to the insidious Budget Burnout that has notoriously destroyed your budget, your neighbor’s budget, and everyone else’s you know. Continuous Tracking also requires personal honesty and according to Sherman Hanna, a professor at Ohio State University who studies financial habits, people tend to fib about their spending on their personal budgets. [1]

Short Term Tracking is popular because it is difficult to make a sustained commitment to the time it takes to track every expenditure month after month. It can also be used as a way to shock people into action about the reality of their spending habits. It’s popular with financial planners who are looking for a general representation of a person or family’s expenditures so they can estimate income needs in the future.

So, which method feels right for you? Perhaps you’ve chosen to take the austere route and focus on compiling physical receipts, tracking them in a spreadsheet and then adjust your monthly spending accordingly. Maybe you just need that jolt of awareness for a few months. No matter how much time you think you’ll spend on reviewing your finances, the system you create has to work for you over the long haul.

Set goals and boundaries

It’s important to know what your goals are. Often, the best way to set goals is to know what you absolutely will not tolerate. For instance, that monthly night out with friends is a “Must Keep” and while those season tickets are an indulgence, it’s the one thing you really enjoy doing with your Dad each year. Those are clearly items you value so those are the things you’re committing to—no matter what.

Maybe your doctor said your blood pressure is up quite a bit and you know that movie popcorn is probably contributing to that. Cutting out the popcorn—and maybe even the movie theater habit—would be good for your health and your budget.

So, what method of budgeting will you employ?  Intrinsically, you already know the method that will wok best for you. After you have set some strict boundaries that you know you can commit to, it helps to come up with some tricks you can rely on so when the going gets tough, the tough stick to the budget.

1.“The best way to stick to a budget,” Wall Street Journal, Rachel Louise Ensign; R1, 6.10.13.

This week’s 10 Things features one of our partners, Charlaine Reynolds, an elder care specialist at Age Transitions. She has worked with older adults and their families for more than 17 years in the fields of assisted living, independents at home, skilled nursing, dementia care and hospice. She is a great resource to both advocate and guide families through the aging process.

10 Things I know to Be True

1) All families are dysfunctional. Read the stories of the families in the Bible and compare them to the stories you read in the newspaper or your newsfeed online. The same issues—greed, dishonesty, jealousy—remain with us. ALL families are dysfunctional.

2) No matter how old you are, you are still someone’s “baby.” I’m 52 years old, but when my 81-year-old mother asks me, “Did you brush your hair?”, all those little-girl feelings are triggered.

3) Your biggest obstacle is often you. My father moved us around a lot when I was growing up. He always hoped that things would be better in the next town. He never figured out he was moving himself, too.

4) Attitude matters. You cannot control every situation, but you can control your attitude. Sometimes it is the only thing you can control.

5) The happiest people I have known understood they could not save the world. But they could make an impact if they were careful and deliberate in their choices in how to share their time and talents.

6) The stress will kill you, literally. The death certificate may say heart disease or stroke, but stress has a very real effect on us physically.

7) You can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Roll up your sleeves. People appreciate you more if you offer a solution when a problem is identified.

8) The only people who never make mistakes are the ones who do nothing. As long as human beings are taking care of human beings, mistakes will be made. If it’s mechanical, it will break, and if it’s human, he or she will fail.

9) There are two kinds of people in the world. One walks into a room and says, “Here I am.” The other walks into a room and says, “There you are.

10) Plan ahead. It’s not always fun, but it’s called being a grown up. Update the will, save for a rainy day, and have a Plan B and a Plan C.

10 Things We Know to Be True is a series of posts sharing the accumulated wisdom of our partners, peers and colleagues, as well as members of the Investment Answers team.

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Who is giving you advice? The Search Engine Specialist? The Product Salesman? Investment Answers believes the True Client Advocate can help you leverage sound financial planning based on your needs and goals. Check out our infographic to learn more about how we define a True Client Advocate.

Budgeting is one of the most important skills that can help ensure financial success over a lifetime.

After all, “Those who do not economize will agonize.” Confucius

Here are eight strategies they use that work for them—perhaps they can work for you.

1. Write it all down.

First, list your Income. Second, list your Have To’s (Mortgage, Utilities, Childcare, Insurance, etc.). List things even if they’re a yearly or a once-every-6-months expense. Divide those Have To’s into a monthly total.

Next is your Adjustable Needs like Food and Gas, which are adjustable because they can change month to month and because you do have some control over them. Finally, list a fair Discretionary Budget for everyone in the household that includes all of those Wants or Extras.

“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” David Brinkley

“Beware of any enterprise requiring new clothes.” Henry Thoreau

2. Don’t try to cut all the fat at once.

Give yourself a workable budget, especially at first when you may still be trying to figure out the difference between Wants and Needs. We have found that the biggest help to the pocketbook is the monthly feedback you get when you go back to your budget and see how well you’ve stayed within your limits. Give yourself time to adjust your spending habits.

“In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.” Proverbs 21:20

3. If there is a spouse involved, sit down, talk and agree.

It’s the only way a budget will work. A majority of marital challenges are finance related. Categorize your Wants and Needs, and discuss the areas where you have differences of opinion. (For example, if your spouse thinks a new car is a Want but you think it’s a Need.) If you agree to disagree, that’s why you have a Discretionary Budget factored in.

Your budget should stuff a little extra cash into the mattress, which can add some cushion in times of challenges. Having savings to cover unexpected expenses will help keep stress low and eliminate potential tension between you and your significant other.

“Some couples go over their budgets very carefully every month; others just go over them.” Sally Poplin

4. Most budgets are not set in stone—they move up and down a bit.

A budget should help you plan your life, not keep you from living it. Expenses in some categories may ebb and flow, and that’s OK—if you plan for it. For example, you may spend relatively little on your kids in February but significantly more in August for back-to-school. If you have a column that specifically states what you spend on your kids, it will help you to keep that spending in balance with your allotted budget. Which brings us to our next tip…

“The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any.” Katharine Whitehorn

5. What you overspend this month comes off of next month.

If you overspend on your Kids category one month, that means your budget for the next month is reduced by the amount you went over. (So get ready for a lot of creative at-home crafts!) Set the goal and stick to it. You are accountable to yourself with a budget, so be kind to yourselves. Be honest with each other.

“A budget tells us what we can’t afford, but it doesn’t keep us from buying it.” William Feather

“Aim low, reach your goals, and avoid disappointment.” Scott Adams/Dilbert

6. Cook meals you love at home.

Keep track of what meals you like to eat at your favorite restaurants, and figure out what each meal costs you to make at home. You will find many meals that are cheap and easy to make yourself, you won’t feel cheated and you, coincidentally, will cut your grocery bill a ton.

MSN Money has great suggestions on how to trim your food budget in half.

Cant find the exact article. Here are two similar form MSN Money:

6 Ways to Stop Blowing Your Grocery Budget

Here’s how I keep my grocery bill under $30 a week

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

7. Budget time for your budget.

Keep receipts and keep a spreadsheet of your costs. Use whichever method works best for your family. Keep your tallies on a notepad, keep them on your laptop or tablet, use Google Docs. Whatever system is the easiest for each of you to use frequently. Google Docs is free and can be accessed by spouses who may be traveling in different areas, which is especially helpful on the budget. A little time each day helps the upkeep and it gives you a win for the day.

“My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.” Errol Flynn

8. Free month sprint.

Pick a month out of the year where you don’t normally do much and try to make it a free month—use zero discretionary spending and try to live off of the grocery/gas category. People do better at sprints like this that have a limited timeline. It can become a game for four weeks. Ask yourself, “What’s free that’s going on in the community that we can do?” Then take all the money you saved in that one month and use it toward something like a vacation.

“The habit of saving is itself an education; it fosters every virtue, teaches self-denial, cultivates the sense of order, trains to forethought, and so broadens the mind.” TT Munger

“The easiest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your pocket.” Kim Hubbard

We threw in three bonus points on budgeting, if you’re really looking for some extra credit:

1. Tithe.

Tithing is about trusting a higher power to provide for you. It is about giving generously to others, because others have so generously given to you, even in their time of need.

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8

2. Plan your future. Leverage a qualified Financial Planner.

Finance, tax and law are their own separate languages, in which you must be well-versed in order to take advantage of the opportunities available to you and to help avoid pitfalls that are not obvious. Build a relationship with a fiduciary who speaks those languages, one who knows you and your goals. That continual, personal relationship is vital as your financial professional works to advocate on your behalf.

“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches.” Proverbs 24:3-4

3. Families need to talk openly together, even when it’s difficult.

A financial planner who has excellent customer service can and should be available (and willing) to talk with families to answer questions, complex and simple. Building those open relationships and stating your long-term intentions ahead of time make all of the difference in the world when tragedy strikes. Talk about end-of-life planning, worst-case scenarios, why you’ve made the choices you’ve made and what your intentions are.

“Never say you know a man until you have divided an inheritance with him.” Johann Lavater

“The best way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit down and talk.” Dalai Lama

“Growing old is not for sissies.” Bettie Davis

We know that you have lots of questions about your Life Planning. Investment Answers is here for you—don’t put it off any longer. Contact us or call our offices directly to schedule an appointment.

Are you in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s+? Budgeting, 401K Plans, Income Planning, Investments, Insurances, Social Security Planning, Retirement Planning…we’re here for you.

* Updated in January 2017

Kentucky is one of those states where—in close proximity—two excellent college sports programs compete head to head, season after season, sport after sport, in an intense rivalry to be #1. In our state, and in our office, we are blessed to have both the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Kentucky Wildcats represented.

The past few years have been pretty amazing for college sports in Kentucky, with both Athletic Departments mature and in prime swing. In particular, 2012 was the year for both basketball teams in Kentucky.

Most of our clients know that Travis and Kelly Terlau are Cardinals, U of L alums, and that Amy Lindroth is a loyal, steadfast UK Cats fan. Her West Virginia (Mountaineers) fanatic husband Brian got his architecture degree from UK, and if it’s a matchup between Big Red and Big Blue, Brian’s going Big Blue, baby.

Back in 2012, with a stroke of luck and a very tiny window in our calendars, we seized the opportunity for some team building for our Client Relations Department. We were witness to sports history in the making: the 2012 New Orleans Final Four. U of L battled UK in the Final Four game. University of Kentucky, the victors, headed into the Finals to compete against the Kansas Jayhawks, where the University of Kentucky became the 2012 National Champions.

But back to the beginning. We all loaded into Brian and Amy’s minivan, picked up an additional passenger, Stephanie (a UK fanatic) and hauled it through state after state, aimed for Dreamland BBQ, a BBQ joint Brian had heard “we had to go to.” After a long BBQ detour in Alabama, and with barely a night’s rest, we arrived late morning in NOLA, parked in a shaded area and went to work trolleying and strolling the city streets of New Orleans.

Amy and Brian are people that know someone everywhere they go. And as a group, we’re all pretty amiable—strangers to no one. We made new friends, ran into old ones and enjoyed the more nostalgic street vendors.

Because our adventure was very last minute, Amy had hopped on VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) and snatched us up the most adorable cottage in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, about a 45-minute drive from downtown New Orleans. (VRBO # 31324)

Our trip was very well organized, from where we stayed to where we parked and everywhere in between.  Brian mapped out the perfect area to park in downtown NOLA, central to where the game was, and a block away from the expressway ramp.  By avoiding the post-game crowds, we were able to go from excitement to serenity.  It felt like two completely different short vacations packed into one excursion.  We easily adopted the motto that hung on our front door.

Bay St. Louis, Mississippi is a beautiful coastal city, known for its quaint atmosphere, welcoming locals and antique shopping. In 2012, Bay St. Louis was still slowly rebuilding from 2005’s devastating hurricane, Katrina. The couple who rented Amy the house, Ronnie and Sandy Robért, stopped by to welcome us and to chat briefly.

They had bought the home to renovate as an income property, and they were almost completely done…when the storm struck. They’re only a few blocks from the beach which meant they took a hit from the swells. The appliances that had been delivered that morning, some still sitting on the front lawn ready to be installed, were swept away in the rising flood waters. Their beautiful home, painted, refinished and partially decorated, was still standing strong at the end of the flooding. But their family suffered a devastating loss that they were still recovering from when we arrived in 2012 for the big games. Their second round of renovations were wonderful, and the home was welcoming.

A five-minute leisurely walk away from our front door, through a quaint center of town, you arrive on the coast line, where we saw signs of survival and signs of rebuilding. Only a few trees survived the pounding storms of Katrina, and local artist Dayle Lewis had made his mark on a few of them. This tree has a family of herons carved into the right tree branch. The intricate detail of the center angel up close blends beautifully with the tree’s natural qualities- her wings spread high behind her.

As Dayle’s work progresses, he hand-builds the scaffolding beside each tree so that he can get to just the right angle and linger there as he carves.

There was a beautiful shaded area, with lush green grass. So close to the water’s edge that one wouldn’t have believed what storms it had endured until you got closer to see stone buildings, each with their own collection of rubble, hidden beneath the beauty.

We spent two mornings between games in Bay St. Louis, and each morning we dined at The Buttercup. Amy and I enjoyed the local neighborhoods and read. Travis and Brian took advantage of the local golf.

In the large empty lot on the cusp between downtown and the waterfront there was a large promotional banner, very cheerful in nature, from BP. This area’s wildlife and coastline apparently took quite a beating from oil spills due to storm conditions.

Each of our families wished our kids could have been with us to sit on the waterfront and watch the amazing systems of trains and pulleys, cargo, and materials…all slowly rebuilding the bridges and coastal infrastructures.

It’s absolutely amazing watching these feats of engineering unraveling at a long day’s end with these immense structures standing in the wake.

We ate on the top deck of Trapani’s Eatery, where we spied…

… a ’66 Chevy Convertible. Amy and Travis hauled it down to the curb to catch a picture before the sun completely set. That’s Amy taking a picture for her Dad. Amy is pretty savvy with cars. This ’66 Mustang is the same vehicle that Travis and his Dad had rebuilt when he was a teenager—their bonding project.

But back to basketball. After all, we were in NOLA for the National Championship Semi-Finals and Finals.

I think the Cardinal fans definitely supported the choice of red for all of the exterior signage.

Travis was a record-holding track athlete for the University of Louisville. His times in the 200m dash (from way back then) were quite good. Watching the 2012 Olympics, we saw athletes competing at Travis’s best time from the mid-1990s.

We are all proud to be from Kentucky, and this quick trip was a great way for our Client Relations Department to enjoy each other’s company and grow as a team.

This photo was taken during the final game, when the UK Wildcats played the Kansas Jayhawks. We had great seats—up a bit, but still center court—making the incredible athleticism easy to watch. Each basket was hard fought and both team’s defense was relentless.

We definitely were all UK fans in the Championship Finals. Courageously, Travis wore his U of L flip flops into the sea of blue.

There were so many incredible athletes on the court that we were blessed to see play the game. But one star rose above them all in 2012, Anthony Davis.

Even the UK Cat sported the now-famous unibrow.

The University of Kentucky Wildcats beat the Kansas Jayhawks 67 to 59. And what did we do? We hauled it outta there, to our awesome parking space right next to the highway, and hightailed it out of town to beat the crowds. On our long drive north, even the Cards fans were glad that this one time the cat got the bird.

Darlys S. Harmon-Vaught is our featured 10 Things columnist this month. Darlys is Owner of Financial Solutions for Divorce and works as a divorce financial strategist and mediator, guiding individuals and couples through the complex decision-making process of financial issues, especially in high-net-worth cases, before and during the divorce procedure.

With her specialized training in financial, forensic and fraud analysis, Darlys is able to provide divorcing individuals/couples with a forward-looking analysis of their finances during the divorce process. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, she worked in the financial securities industry for over 20 years before opening Financial Solutions for Divorce.

10 Things I Know to Be True:

1) Divorce among couples age 50 and older has been steadily increasing since 2006.

2) Financial concerns for the “gray divorce” (divorce over 50) include estate planning for nontraditional (cohabitating) and blended families.

3) Many Americans plan to retire later than age 65 because of not having sufficient retirement savings.

4) One needs to be married for at least 10 years to have the opportunity to draw off a former spouse’s lifetime earnings as an ex-spouse and divorced survivor for Social Security benefits. This strategy would be especially beneficial if it leads to monthly payments that would be higher than the earnings of the other spouse.

5) The planning challenge for those divorcing over 50 is to project cash flow from Social Security benefits, investments and pensions.

6) The number of men and women over the age of 65 that are living together/cohabitating has increased in the last decade. Several reasons that stop these individuals from remarrying are the prospect of financial loss by having to give up a former spouse’s medical insurance or pension.

7) Baby boomers do not consider retirement to be “cool.”

8) Lack of experience with making financial decisions and the emotions surrounding money management are obvious impediments to a smooth divorce process.

9) Gift and estate tax savings, as well as income tax savings, need to be considered in the division of marital assets and maintenance.

10) A divorce financial strategist is skilled in budgeting, investments, taxes, estate tax and gift tax. This special body of knowledge, plus comprehensive expertise about finance strategies in the divorce process, allows the strategist to analyze the many dimensions of financial challenges facing those in the “gray divorce.”

10 Things We Know to Be True is a series of posts sharing the accumulated wisdom of our partners, peers and colleagues, as well as members of the Investment Answers team.

This week’s 10 Things is from a special member of our team, Melanie Davis. Melanie is the head copywriter for BatesMeron Sweet Design. She’s been instrumental in giving our brand a voice, and she’s a great teacher and sounding board for our creative department.

10 Things I Know to Be True:

1) The secret to being creative is being curious. There’s something interesting about everything, even if you need to pore through a 75-page technical manual to find it.

2) Don’t take yourself too seriously. You’ll miss out on all of life’s great opportunities to laugh until you cry, have silly adventures or dance like you’ve lost control of your limbs.

3) You’re never as busy as you think. Make time for your family (and the friends who are so close they’re like family).

4) To write well, write like yourself. It’s 100 times more compelling to read a piece written in the author’s authentic voice than a piece where the author is trying to sound professional or intellectual or cool. When I get writer’s block, I sometimes pretend like I’m being interviewed for a magazine article. This may also be a sign that I’m super narcissistic, who knows?

5) Running is a cheaper form of therapy.

6) Having a variety of experiences makes you more interesting and makes you better at your job. Put down the laptop and read a book. Try a new hobby. Travel.

7) Embrace your inner nerdiness, but not to the point where you bring War and Peace on vacation because your friends will never stop making fun of you for it.

8) Volunteering is the most selfish unselfish thing you can do. Share your time and talents, and you’ll be rewarded with fulfillment and warm fuzzies.

9) Market in the way you’d want to be marketed to. Educate, entertain, assist—don’t annoy.

10) Sleep is the best. Life is too short to go through it feeling like death warmed over.

10 Things We Know to Be True is a series of posts sharing the accumulated wisdom of our partners, peers and colleagues, as well as members of the Investment Answers team.

Growth within Investment Answers has always been a very organic, natural evolution. We realized expanding our headquarters was inevitable, and we had patiently saved and searched for quite a few years, looking for the right location, time and supporting team before we moved into our new office in Bailey Office Park at 4205 Springhurst Blvd.

Change is never easy, so having a strong supporting team is important during times of change.  When we serve our clients, we strive to provide Quality in Service, Goods and Staff, and that’s how we measure success in our team. We don’t expect perfection from our internal and external teams—we expect integrity, dependable quality and service in times of need.

One of our partners who strongly lives out our core values is Louisville Geek. They were certainly the first vendor that we contacted when we foresaw our expansion and upcoming move.

We knew Bobby Bailey, one of the Louisville Geek’s founders, from college. We started our professional relationship with Louisville Geek several year ago, when it came time to upgrade our Information Technology (IT) department.  We called Bobby because Louisville Geek is a locally-owned IT company and we knew they would have the resources available to support us as we continued to thrive and grow.

Bob and Katie Bailey

Bobby referred us to another of the company’s founders, Erik Eckel, to serve as our lead Project Manager. Erik is a great guy who knows everyone, and he’s a fantastic storyteller, usually including some type of a flight metaphor.

Erik Eckel, MCSE, our Project Manager

It would be difficult to propose a situation to Erik in the IT field that he hasn’t encountered before. He’s an insightful member of our team, and we’re blessed to be able to rely on his expertise. Erik developed the IT systems for our original office and our new headquarters.  His professional writings were also the foundation for our IT Best Practices policies while we were building our own Team Training Manuals.

Jack Wallen

One of the things that we really appreciate about Louisville Geek was that they prioritized being available if and when we have any technology challenges—or if we had goals for growth in our Technology and Security departments. Jack Wallen is the tech that usually remotes into our computer during such challenges.

I remember a few years back we were on the road and found ourselves with a new PowerPoint presentation and a broken USB port. Jack was able to remote into our computers and find a timely solution before a large presentation. When the presentation went off without a hitch, we certainly were grateful we had chosen Louisville Geek as our IT support.

Of course, Jack isn’t the only tech that has worked with us. There have been many long days over the years, with one of their techs lobbying on the phone for hours with phone and cable vendors. We’ve had the two Joes of Louisville Geek, Joe Conrad and Joe Sloan, each smooshed in our old, tiny filing/tech room, getting us back up and running after horrible storms had knocked out the power.

Christopher Niçaise

Chris Niçaise, our System Administrator, was also hazed into Investment Answers after a bad storm a few years back, when he rescued us from Internet purgatory while wedged between two filing cabinets. When you think about the ice storms and tornadoes our region has suffered in the past five years, you can see why having a top-notch IT department is so important.

In fact, one of the major pieces of advice I give as an Operations leader in our industry is to have a great IT department—and to treat them well. Your IT team is an enormous front-line defense for your company. They’re also a force that moves your company forward. It has always been very easy for me, as Chief Operations Officer, to introduce new tech systems because Louisville Geek prioritizes finding solutions and teaching the proper usage of equipment. For example, they’ve helped us build a virtual, mobile office so we’re always accessible to our clients, even if we’re on the road.

Our technology needs have grown over the years, from a relatively straightforward network to a much more sophisticated system. Louisville Geek has been with us every step of the way, from minor fixes to major projects like our new phone system install.

As we moved into the new office, I was surprised to find that Louisville Geek would be a huge part of the install for our cabling, pre-drywall. It never occurred to me how intricately phones are tied into technology systems now.

Jeff Emonz

Another Louisville Geek founder, Jeff Emonz, is our lead Systems Engineer. Jeff was an integral part of our phone planning process and pre-drywall installation. Jeff and Erik helped me find another fantastic, locally-owned vendor, Unified Technologies, to get us high-quality, dependable phone equipment with ongoing, high-quality service. (Read our Unified Technologies blog post here to hear more about how Jeff and Erik used networking and referrals to help us find a phone system solution.)

Derek Warfield

Derek Warfield, our Infrastructure Engineer, installed all of the cabling for internet and phones for the entire 2,200-sq-ft office.

Selecting a phone system and planning the installation was a huge project which is part of the foundation for all of our future satellite offices. I think anyone who is familiar with how I run Operations knows that I tend to be overly analytical, tedious in my research, thorough in my questions and analyses and trusting when my team moves forward.

That’s why having a strong team is so important to me as a team leader. Once I make a final decision for our infrastructure, I find that I don’t have to second guess my team because I am absolutely confident in the plan we have chosen and in the quality of its implementation. I think that in the planning stages, it’s also important to have realistic expectations for the end result and the longevity of the technology—and to be flexible enough to learn the technology and allow it to work for you.

Throughout our growth and expansion over the years, we have used Louisville Geek as an asset for our company. We appreciate the advances they have made for us and the opportunities they will bring us in the future through new technologies and their quality of support.  We feel extremely confident that we have a strong infrastructure and supporting team which we can rely on as we continue to grow.

We highly recommend them for your company. You’re building a long-term relationship with your IT department, so choose wisely and treat them well.

You can contact Louisville Geek at www.LouisvilleGeek.com.

Matt Rettick is our featured 10 Things columnist this month! Matt is well-known in the financial services industry as a forward-thinking businessperson, having worked in the insurance and financial advising industry for over 20 years. You may know him as the founder and host of Check and Balances TV on YouTube or through his work on Checks and Balances Financial Radio. Matt is an inspirational mentor and friend. We value him because he is an advocate for the consumer and for independent financial advisors.

10 Things I Know To Be True:

1)    Your wealth is in your time, not your money.

2)    On my tombstone I want it to read: “He looked for the best in others and gave the best he had!”

3)    Reality is not what you wish it to be, reality is what it really is.

4)    We all know that life is not fair. What makes it fair is that it is not fair to everyone.

5)    The fastest way to double your money – is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

6)    Delayed gratification is never fun, until you arrive in the future.

7)    We all hate to pay for any kind of insurance, until we need it.

8)    Owe no man anything but to love him (Romans 13:8). This is the surest way to have peace of mind.

9)    The time spent with your child is not a distraction from the main event; the time spent with your child is the main event.

10) You have two choices in life… you can carry the pain of discipline which weighs ounces or the pain of regret which weighs tons.

Written April 1, 2013

We recommend Matt’s newest book, All the Rules Have Changed: What You Need to Do to Dump Debt, Invest Wisely, and Succeed in the New Financial Reality, available along with his previous book, Fiscal Fitness, on Amazon.

10 Things We Know to Be True is a series of posts sharing the accumulated wisdom of our partners, peers and colleagues, as well as members of the Investment Answers team.

In hindsight, one of the funniest success stories from our expansion into Investment Answers’ new home office is the story about our phone system. The phone system that kept me up at night. I had countless nightmares about Voice over IP (VoIP) phone systems!

Actually, this isn’t a complaint about VoIP. It’s a story about the power of local businesses using great communication: a story of teams working together for the benefit of our Investment Answers clients.

Two of our teams—Louisville Geek, our information technology (IT) team, and Unified Technologies, our telecommunications team—worked to end my phone system nightmares, by networking each other’s available skill sets and services. Teams that work together can accomplish great things. And frankly, we needed both of their help. If they hadn’t networked and referred each other, we would still be stuck in phone purgatory.

In December 2012, Investment Answers was set to move into our new headquarters at 4205 Springhurst Blvd. in Bailey Park. It was a completely empty space, so when we started the expansion process in early 2012, we started from scratch (except for the exterior walls and concrete base flooring).The process of creating a space for our team had been relatively smooth, by construction standards.  However, one challenge had begun early in our planning, and lingered through most of the process, festering until the very last weeks: the phone system.

New construction meant that before the drywall went up, we had to decide what communication technologies we would be embracing in our new space so that the office could be properly wired and so the correct equipment could be pre-ordered from all vendors.

Over the year, the more I learned about phone technology from our networks and from my research, the more challenging these choices became. One would think that if you want this classic style of communication to be high in quality, easy to use, reliable and affordable that you should have classic phone wiring installed, pre-drywall, buy some good quality, basic telephones and “voilà!” You’re done.

It is so not like that.

The more I looked and listened, the more stories I found  about horrible call quality, poor customer service support and conflicts between different utilities and vendors. None of which are OK with me.

Poor call quality is unacceptable when we’re on the phone with our clients. Our time with them is too valuable.

Frankly, there are few things I want less than one of my IT guys- highly qualified to resolve important issues- stuck on hold with a major phone vendor for hours, getting the run around and then getting hung up on, multiple times.

And it’s just not good business to have poor communication between my vendors whose actions affect each other. The utility industry, as a whole, wants to you think it has to be that way, and it’s up to your project manager to find a bridge to those gaps of IT and telecommunications.

I’m happy to report that our teams were able to install a phone system that works well and didn’t distract my Investment Answers team from our core mission: serving our clients.

Meet the people who made it possible: our partners at Louisville Geek and Unified Technologies.

This is Jeff Emonz, our Systems Engineer, and one of Louisville Geek’s founding partners. Jeff had to answer round after round of questions and concerns that I had about VoIP. (Look for a future blog post on Louisville Geek to learn more about how that partnership worked.) He was incredibly patient, even when he didn’t want to be.

Jeff and Erik Eckel, another founding partner of Louisville Geek, knew they needed to find someone on the phone services side of things to help alleviate my ever-present concerns about VoIP. The Geeks know me pretty well, and so they knew they had to introduce us to someone who was well-versed in the industry and whose success was tied to our success.

Erik Eckel, MCSE, founding partner of Louisville Geek and our IT Project Manager since 2009.

Erik was the one who put the pieces together since he knew I was struggling with committing to VoIP.  Erik said, “I’ve got this guy, Mike, I want to introduce you to. He’ll take good care of you. Don’t worry.” Whenever Erik says something like that, I listen. Erik knows everyone, and he can articulate complex technology systems in a way that you can understand.

Having Louisville Geek introduce us to Unified Technologies was fantastic. Louisville is a small big city, and turns out we have known Mike Avery, one of their business development guys, since the late 90s when we were all in college.

Meet Melissa Johnston, our Project Manager and Mike Avery, Business Development, from Unified Technologies, two members of our telecommunications team.

I am a customer for many of the companies that Unified Technologies services, and I am familiar with the quality of their calls. I was impressed right away since I had experience with UT already without realizing it.

What a riot it was meeting with Mike for the first time to discuss the phone system options! Before I had even asked about whether they offered analog and VoIP phones, I went into a 20-minute rant about my VoIP paranoia. I still chuckle about his response. “VoIP is a great product, for the right company.”

Unified Technologies actually does offer an analog option for those looking for the classic phone system. But Mike and Erik both asked me, “If you’re willing to embrace technology for the benefits it can provide in all other areas of your business, why not embrace the new technologies for your phone system?” And they were right. It was time to trust that these two companies would work together to take good care of us.  I became more willing to embrace the advantages that VoIP had to offer our clients and I abandoned my hope for a classic phone system.

At that first meeting, I also learned quite a bit about Unified Technologies, which helped me feel confident that our success and their success were dependent on each other. I could rely on that interdependent nature of our companies for the success of our phone system.

Unified Technologies is an employee-owned company. They were founded in June 2009 by 27 employee-owners. Everyone bought in at the level they could afford…some used second mortgages, some IRAs, some borrowed from family. All of the original founders had worked together previously, some only for a few years, some for 20 to 30 years. When they started, they calculated that they had 400 years of combined industry experience!

Meet Helen Clasby, our Service Coordinator -and- Melissa’s mom. She’s been in the telecommunications industry for 36 years. She’s the reason that Melissa is such a powerful force as a Project Manager—Melissa was raised in this industry. Those two know this industry inside and out.

Since 2009, Unified Technologies continued to grow based on their founding ideals. Mike told me, “We have always focused on hiring good people who have a passion for customer service. We know that we can teach them the technical side of our business, but we can’t teach passion.” Isn’t that an awesome way to approach business, and life in general?

Unified Technologies’ team is an ideal example of who Investment Answers strives to have supporting us as we serve our clients. Our goal for our firm is for the experience to be enjoyable—welcoming. We strive for our technology to be so intuitive and useful that it disappears into the background—our clients shouldn’t even notice it’s there. I feel confident that with Unified Technologies on our team, our phone systems can do just that—be reliable, helpful and invisible.

Our turnaround time from the day that Mike and I first met to discuss my concerns to final install was very quick. They even squeezed us in during the year-end holiday season because the only landline phones we had since our move into the office were “the best” that Office Depot had to offer, and we couldn’t even successfully order pizza on them, the sound quality was so terrible.  We needed the phones installed as soon as it was feasible, so that we could share with our client’s our new contact information, and welcome in the new year.

Meet Richard Millea, our System Engineer, at UT’s home office.

There were some very minor install challenges. True to their word, Louisville Geek and Unified Technologies worked together extremely well. They were able to resolve our initial install issues quickly and symbiotically, and I didn’t have any additional service bills because UT was able to resolve the minor issues under our service contract.

Through the power of local business and solid business referrals, I can come to you today and say that we LOVE our phone systems and our team has a lot of confidence in them! No more nightmares.

Where to find Unified Technologies:

9822 Bluegrass Parkway  Louisville, KY, 40299
502.459.9141
Read this link for more client reviews of UT: http://unified-team.com/blog/