I attended a retirement seminar (gasp!) and the primary lesson shared by the presenter was that ten years from retirement it is important to shift from growing your assets to protecting them (from taxes and probate). It’s a challenging mindset for someone who has always been a saver.
I think about this as I see long-standing institutions closing — Iowa Wesleyan University shuttering its doors after 181 years and Milwaukee’s Cardinal Stritch University after 86 years. It’s happening to major retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond which has recently filed for bankruptcy, and Tupperware which is on the brink after a 77-year run. Had they continued to focus on growth instead of protecting the assets that they had or reinventing themselves with a downsized scope?
Whether you are viewing things as an individual or an organization, it’s important to keep your time perspective in mind. Just because your methods worked yesterday, doesn’t mean that they are the right ones for today or tomorrow. Longevity may be more important than short-term gains.
