ERL Financial Services, LLC

01/09/2025

I’m excited to share ’s Outlook 2025. From stocks and the economy to geopolitics and more, it delivers perspective on what could be in store for 2025. Read more in go.lpl.com/outlook2025

11/28/2024

11/20/2024

What games or sports do you play? What’s your favorite?

Some major benefits can be gained in retirement by playing, whether sports or games in general. Especially as long as they include physical activity and/or social interaction. According to the National Institute on Aging, there are several benefits:

🩺 Less likely to develop certain diseases. Participating in active and social activities may lower the risk of developing some health problems. That can include dementia, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.

👴🏽 Increase Lifespan. Playing games (though maybe not losing at certain games 😄) has been shown to increase happiness and outlook on life, which has long been associated with those who live longer.

☂️ Better prepared to cope. As they say, getting older is not for the weak. Difficult things can happen later in life. It has been shown that those who are active socially and mentally – which you can get with playing – are better able to bounce back from difficult situations.

🧠 Cognitive thinking improves. Participating regularly in mental stimulation or physical activity can positively affect memory. In fact, the wider variety of games you play or activities you are involved with, the better it can be.

If you are planning for or currently living in retirement - what do you play? We would love to hear what games you play. Maybe we’ll challenge you to a round!

Resource:
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/healthy-aging/participating-activities-you-enjoy-you-age

11/11/2024

America the beautiful.

More than just the name of a song, it’s a truth we can all share. This great country and its people represent a story that is uniquely beautiful, even in difficult times.
This great land we all share is the page upon which our shared story is written, and now, our veterans will get the chance to enjoy all the wonders of the country that they’ve served.

As of last year, US veterans and the immediate family members of fallen service members can visit the nation’s most iconic wonders—its national parks, wildlife refuges, and other federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior—any time, for free.

It's a small gesture, but this new initiative from the Department of the Interior could make a positive difference to the lives of many thousands of people across the States.

From all of us at ERL Financial Services, we wish you—and any veterans in your life—a happy Veterans Day.

11/04/2024

It’s time to vote!

I don’t really need to tell you there are always disagreements between parties and individuals at this time of year. Everyone has a viewpoint on how our great country should handle the major issues of the day.

No matter those views, they are valuable!

That is why all of us should vote.

I would encourage all to look at the issues, read up on all the candidates, and encourage others to do the same.

Pay particular attention to our local issues. While the news media tends to focus on the national races, which are important, they don’t focus so much on what’s happening here.

In the words of Dr. Seuss: “UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it’s not.”

10/28/2024

Different versions of this quote are out there, but it’s the heart of Maya Angelou’s message that’s really got me thinking.

Life’s beauty lies in the simple truth that we continually learn and apply new knowledge to the way we see the world.

I’ve made my share of mistakes, and decisions that, at the time seemed good, but now make me cringe. I’m not the same person I was a year ago, let alone 5 years ago. I doubt high-school-me would even recognize the me I am today. We all know this about ourselves, but the other side of this is granting ourselves grace.

Forgive ourselves for past mistakes and not-so-great decisions and recognize that we were learning and growing. And allow ourselves to continue growing.

Every day, we encounter new information, and it’s ok for that information to change our minds. For us to change and to see another side that we hadn’t previously considered. And when we do that, we can allow ourselves to know better and then do better.

10/18/2024

Sometimes you come across a story online that must be shared. And shared often.

So, while you may have seen this out there, its message should be shared again.

Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado was a highly recognized photojournalist in Brazil. Nearly 30 years ago, he returned to Brazil after having been in Rwanda, photographing the horrible genocide there.

As he said, he came back just sick and needing time to heal after what he’d seen. Unfortunately, he came back to an area that had been deforested. What had been a forest was now a desert.
Rather than give up, he and his wife decided to rally others and do something about it.

Over the next 20 years, they planted 4 million trees. With the help of college students, organizations, and friends, they were able to re-grow the forest.

Their work allowed 172 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, 293 species of plants, and 15 species of reptiles to return to the area.

There is so much to love about this story! One of the things I love most about it is that rather than giving up in a difficult situation, they set to work, gathered their network, and changed their situation.

That’s what each of us has the opportunity to do every day. Let’s take advantage!

10/01/2024

We are officially in October!

That means we welcome in the fall holidays and all the traditions that come with it. As I’ve thought about these traditions, going through a corn maze struck me as one of the more fun and interesting.

As people we’ve been fascinated with mazes for thousands of years. They have come in many shapes and sizes. In fact, the oldest surviving hedge maze (an ancestor to the corn maze 😄) is the Hampton Court Maze in London which was started in 1690. After that, it’s not a great leap to using other tall plants to build mazes. So, when Don Frantz and Adrian Fisher designed and built the first corn maze in the US in 1993, it wasn’t that big of a leap. Their little maze covered just 3 acres.

Now, the Guinness World Record for largest corn maze is 60 acres!1

Why do we do these mazes?

There are all kinds of possible explanations, but this is the one given by a co-owner of a corn maze, Katie Colony, that I like most of all: “I think it comes down to tradition and having some of those special times with family year after year.”

To me, this is one of the reasons I love this time of year. It comes with traditions. These traditions bring families together and smiles to kids’ faces. And, like mazes, some of these traditions have been happening for a very long time. That’s a great thing!

I would love to hear some of your favorite fall traditions. Please share them in the comments. Who knows, maybe it will become someone else’s new tradition.

09/24/2024

We’re always on the lookout for little things we can all do to keep costs down. According to the Energy Department the typical family spends more than $1,400 per year on utilities. As we march forward into the autumn weather, it’s almost time to turn up the furnace and shut the windows. Here are some useful tips to keep the drafts out and the power bills down this fall.
https://bit.ly/3aDSQvT

09/05/2024

I recently met with someone who was really fearful of the future. They were so fearful, in fact, that they didn’t want to make any decisions. They were worried that the future could look very different from what is currently expected, so those decisions could hurt them in the future.

Here is my advice.

Yes, the endless possibilities in the future can be scary. It’s a little like looking down a cliff face before a rappel. So many ‘What Ifs’ can run through your mind as you look down that drop.

But you have tools to help you get the job done safely. You’ve looked at the weather forecast, brought a good rope, tested your carabiners, and worn your helmet, gloves, and knee pads. No matter what the cliff face throws at you, you are prepared.

You should also have tools in your life. When it comes to financial planning, those tools are knowledge about existing conditions. You have time-tested investments and a portfolio that follows
an investment philosophy that stands the test of time. Finally, just as you would bring a guide on a new rappel, you’ve surrounded yourself with a team of professionals to guide you. You want guides
who have helped many others successfully take that same path.

Yes, the future has infinite possibilities. But those possibilities can become wonderful opportunities with the right tools.

08/26/2024

You’ve heard of FLOW. It’s that mental and physical state where you immerse yourself into your activity and operate at an extreme level of efficiency.

It’s an amazing feeling when you get into it, but what does it take to get there?

I have found it takes five things:

Practice, practice, practice. You need to practice the skills you’ll use during your flow in all different ways. Make that practice stretch you to your limits. Then, when it’s time to perform, your body and mind will be prepared to operate with little to no thought.

Eliminate distractions. In the office, give yourself a power-hour at least once a day. Put your cell phone away, turn off notifications on your computer, and let others know to not pass you phone calls. Maybe even take that smart watch off and set it aside.

Set clear goals for what you will accomplish by the end of that hour. Maybe you’ll make 20 phone calls. Maybe you’ll write that whole article. Maybe you’ll clean out your inbox. Whatever it is, decide what will be completed by the end.

Make your goals challenging. You want to push yourself in your flow time. If you aren’t giving everything you have to the activity, distractions can sneak in. Even if they are just thoughts on what you’ll eat for dinner.

Take care of yourself physically. Your body can be a machine, but you need to feed it the right energy through a healthy diet. You also need to let it fully rest by getting enough sleep. I know both of those are easier said than done, but the closer you get to
perfection in both, the better your body and mind can operate.

I’ve found that getting into a flow more often brings greater joy and satisfaction with that activity. Here’s to a productive week with plenty of flow time for all of us.

08/08/2024

Can you retire when YOU want to?

You may have been out of school for a very long time, but here’s another “pop quiz”…

There are many things that can affect the answers. Do you know if:

💲 Income taxes go away when you retire?
💲 Social security benefits are, or are not, sheltered from taxes?
💲 Tax consequences apply to you if you don’t start to withdraw your pre-tax savings at age 73?

Leaving school doesn’t stop people from learning.

It means answers must be sought from somewhere else instead of a teacher in a classroom.

Taxation after retirement is a complicated subject, there is a lot of information available. I read voluminously in the field each week and am always looking for answers to those tough retirement questions.

Our FREE evaluation of your retirement plan will help you decide if there are more answers to the pop quiz!

Feel free to give us a ring at 301-387-0655 to set a time to ask questions and find some answers. 📞😁