After 23 years at Master’s, I will retire at the end of this month. As I plan for retirement, I have been reminded how important it is to communicate with my wife. Communicating with LaNita has been essential at all times in our marriage, but neglecting communication as we approach this significant life transition could produce some unintended outcomes for both of us. You, too, may be nearing retirement. Here… Read More
The Business of Money – Self-Serving Bias
I am a big golfer, and I like to say that golf is a microcosm of life. Sometimes you hit a great shot, but get a bad break, and the ball ends up in an undesirable location. Other times, you hit a poor shot but get a good break, or as we would say on the course you “get away with one”. Most of the time, the result follows the… Read More
The Master’s Minute – Just Control What You Can
I’m a fairly intense Philadelphia sports fan. I won’t bore you with the details, but I was reading an article about one of the Philly sports teams this week, and a quote in the article grabbed my attention. It paralleled one of the points Garry made in his Master’s Minute post last week about staying focused on what you can control. Unlike many athletes, this young man seems to be… Read More
The Master’s Minute – The Need for Clarity and Anticipation
People naturally crave certainty. We want to know what will happen, when it will happen and how it will affect us. While we all require different levels of certainty to be productive, we are all affected negatively by uncertainty. Uncertainty can cause higher levels of stress and impede our decision-making process. The reality is that uncertainty is part of life. We can never know what will come next and how… Read More
The Business of Money – Lessons from In-N-Out Burger
I recently read an article [1] profiling In-N-Out Burger, a fast-food chain based in California that has a cult-like following for their burgers and fries. In-N-Out recently opened their first restaurant in Colorado, and the wait time on opening day was up to 14 hours [2] at one point in the day. Customers at the end of the line would not reach the drive thru window before the restaurant closed!… Read More
The Master’s Minute – Angels in Our Midst
I first met Chaplain Elizabeth at Lancaster General Hospital three years ago. She had left numerous voice messages for me about an accident in which my cousin and her husband had been involved. Having never been to LGH’s Emergency Department, I prayed heartily to God on the drive to the hospital that He would lead me to the right place. Not able to find a parking space near Emergency, I… Read More
The Master’s Minute – Heart Auditing
Most individuals do not get a warm feeling when they hear the term, audit. Typically, an audit means a lot of tedious work, and it can produce significant anxiety should any large discrepancies be found. Though an audit can cause some anxious moments, there is also a lot of good that can come from performing an audit. Performing audits in a retail business will help achieve higher inventory accuracy and… Read More
The Master’s Minute – Light in the Darkness
I’m guessing that I’m not the only one who is feeling afflicted by darkness. Currently, we are in the season of darkness. December and January are literally dark months. This time of year we have between nine and ten hours of daylight, and the other 14 to 15 hours are darkness. In addition, we are in the 11th month of the COVID-19 pandemic with all the limitations we face due… Read More
The Master’s Minute – We Got a Freebie
On March 23rd, 2020, the Dow Jones Industrial average reached its lowest position since November of 2016. From that point until the date of this writing, the index is up 58% and is sitting at its all-time high. Technically, this year will go in the books as a recession for the markets, but as I heard another advisor put it, we got a ‘freebie’ in terms of market corrections. We… Read More
The Master’s Minute – Turning the Page on 2020
This week we close the book on 2020 and look forward to the beginning of 2021! For many it may seem like a more significant event this year than it was in previous years. I have two specific wishes for all of us as we transition into a new year. These are not typical New Year’s resolutions, so allow me to explain. Let’s go back 15 or 16 years. I… Read More
