Archives For Holidays

Labor Day, Eh

September 3, 2022

Everyone enjoys Labor Day but how did it get started and why? We probably should take a few minutes out of our picnic today and thank our Canadian friends.

Happy Labor Day eh?

Although political rhetoric and in-fighting is at an all time high; the fact remains that The United States of America is the greatest country in the history of the world, despite the current administrations efforts. Our country was founded on the idea of self-reliance and the ingenuity of individuals who work. Certainly why the current trend, which some have adopted, of living off government handouts is so disturbing. True Americans work in order to add value for themselves, their families, community and country. However, like many things we, Americans, sometimes borrow ideas from other countries and before long they’re believed to be our own creations or an inherent American idea.

So, did you know that Labor Day is a day set aside to recognize the economic and social impact of those who work in our country was originally a Canadian idea?

Many argue that Labor Day was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May of 1882, after witnessing the annual Labor Festival in Toronto, Canada.  In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed into law this day as a National Holiday. Since that date we have set aside the 1st Monday in September to recognize the economic and social contributions of workers in our country.

As we celebrate the day with picnics, barbecues, and parades with friends and neighbors; let us not forget the reason that we celebrate. Today we celebrate the ingenuity, diligence and the hard work of those who get up each day to add value to society. So, regardless of whether Labor Day was our original idea or not; thanks eh, to all of you who work each day.

So, how are you celebrating Labor Day? Share with me on Facebook, twitter or LinkedIn

                                                              

Read more detail regarding Labor Day and its history

 

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Happy Advicegiving

November 26, 2019

The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays are, by far, my favorite time of the year. There is cheer in the air and an overall feeling of generosity. Being in the financial field for the past 22 years I have also learned that this is the time of the year when advice is handed out most freely.

So take this as a word of caution for this “Advicegiving Season.”

Most of this advice is well intentioned however often unsolicited. It typically happens when the large meal of the day is finished, politics has been exhausted and the football games are winding down. Now enter the “rich uncle”, you know the one, everybody has one. (And they aren’t always rich) I can say everybody has one regardless of your economic situation or without me even knowing you. The rich uncle or relative is the guy that likes to tell you all of his huge successes throughout the year, whether they are real or not.

It almost always starts with a philanthropic tone of, “you should get into _________.” It starts this way so that everyone in the room feels like, wow! He is looking out for me or I am getting an inside tip. Then this person drones on and on about how well it has done. If it were to stop there I probably wouldn’t be even mentioning this non-event. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always stop there.

As I mentioned being in the financial field; Now I get to hear about all of these huge successes in the weeks following each of the holidays. It has happened repeatedly for the past 22 years. Which is both great and unfortunate?

It’s great to hear about these ideas/investments because I love to hear new ideas. Great because there are things out there that genuinely successful people do that I want to know about and be involved. Trust me, I certainly don’t claim to know it all and I also spend a great deal of time each year researching and learning anyways.

The unfortunate part is when it derails a financial plan that was totally on the right track. Unfortunately many of these proclaimed investment ideas aren’t always entirely true or even understood. Never does the afore mentioned rich uncle take the time to understand if his idea, be it good or bad, is appropriate for the season of life of the recipient or fits in to their overall goals.

So this holiday season take the advice and be gracious. However, I would caution you to think through who is giving the advice. Have they been successful? Are they in a different phase of life than you? Are their values in line with yours? Most importantly make sure that you overlay this advice with your well-coordinated plan to ensure that it fits into your families’ hopes and dreams.

Best of luck this Advicegiving season! I would encourage you to stick with throwing the football with the kids after lunch.

 

Do you have that Uncle? Let us know, maybe it would be even be fun to tag them on twitter or facebook as you respond:) 

 

Happy Holidays!

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Its a holiDAY

July 21, 2015

Have you ever noticed that scheduling can become difficult around holidays?

It is funny how holidays are typically one day events; however they are often used as excuses for procrastination. Recently, I was working to schedule a meeting with several executive level professionals and it became comical searching for a date to meet. I couldn’t help but notice that everyone in the group was totally comfortable and quite adept at putting off meetings.

Here is how the dialogue went:

Scheduler A: “How about Thursday?”

Scheduler B: “I will just be getting in from Vacation”

Scheduler A: “OK, how about the following Tuesday?”

Scheduler C: “That’s Memorial Day Week”

Scheduler D: “Yeah, and I think we have corporate in the following week for a couple of days.”

 

And on and on it went!

 

It seems as though people use one day events as excuses for the weeks on either side of the one day event. They are either preparing for the one day event or they are recovering from the one day event. My suggestion is that we allow holidays to be holidays, but not to make them the scape goat for a lack of productivity or commitment.

 

Please do not take this as a Scrooge type post. Trust me that I am a believer in celebrating all things worth celebrating, especially holidays. However, as a general rule people aren’t as busy as they claim to be; so I say step it up and get things done!

 

Have you ever experienced anything like this? I would love to hear your thoughts, please share them with me on twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

 

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