Let’s celebrate
Posted on December 31, 2007 2 Comments
2007 is over, and now it’s time to celebrate the year that was.
For me, the previous year often seemed like a swirling tornado; I felt engulfed by a series of monstrous, fast-paced events that threatened to sweep me away, including three weddings: two of my best friends’ and my brother’s, and B’s entry into law school. All four of these monumental events – basically one per quarter – required investments of time, money and emotion; though oddly enough, none of them actually happened directly to me. I was just the support staff. Funny, as I’m writing that, I’m just now realizing how invested I was this year in other people’s lives… it’s a little disconcerting.
In my own life, things were relatively quiet. I’ve been working really hard, and was rewarded with a nice raise this year, which has helped me increase my savings tremendously (more on that later… I know you want details, LOL!). While I didn’t make any significant new investments, I did manage to open a money market account that’s been providing me with a good return, and my 401K continues to grow, despite some ups and downs over the course of the year. I returned to Europe for the first time since 2001 to visit Ireland – and oh, how my heart longs to travel all year round. I got in shape and managed to complete my first 10K, followed by the realization that I want to run a half-marathon in 2008. I’ve since started a weight training program to help me build some muscle so my legs will be able to carry me for 13 miles.
Outside of my own little existence, the personal finance world was engulfed in its own tornadoes in 2007, from the credit crunch to fallout over sub-prime mortgages, I think the average investor or observer couldn’t help but to feel a little squeamish over his/her own finances. I hope the bad news didn’t prevent too many folks from dipping a toe into the investment waters, be it a new house or a savings account. From this year’s volatility, perhaps we have realized that we all need to be a little smarter about our personal money management practices, a little more skeptical on what it takes to attain the great “American Dream” and a little more aware of what we have saved as our back-up plan, our financial cushion. Because as lucky and blessed as some of us are, this lifestyle may not last forever. If credit does indeed become more difficult to get, we’ll have to live without some of the newest/biggest/most fun/most glamorous/Oprah’s favorite things, and get back to just living, just focusing on our top priorities and that’s it. I’m not saying it will happen…geez, I don’t really know much about anything… but we have to be certain we’d be OK if it did.
So this New Year’s, let’s toast to the things that are important to life. For me, I’ll be toasting to family, to friendship, to love and to health. Because even though life can be quick, violent, draining and hard to keep up with, I’ve realized this year that with my family and friends, I can get through just about anything. They’re the most important asset I have, the most stable and the most lasting.
Cheers.
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2 Responses to “Let’s celebrate”
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December 31st, 2007 @ 9:03 pm
Hi BB,
You are in the Wall Street Journal!
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119836036944047243.html?mod=money_page_left_hs
Best of luck in the new year, I think you are on the right track.
January 2nd, 2008 @ 7:27 am
Happy New Year! It is good to focus in on the things that really matter. I find with trying to get out of debt that I am thinking about money all the time, but in the end it’s not what makes life worthwhile (though debt can certainly make life suck, having money doesn’t necessarily make it not suck).