What's In a Name?

One question we frequently hear from clients is: "What's the significance of the name, Five Seasons?"  It's first and foremost a reference to the increasing complexity of people's financial lives and the corresponding need for financial planners to react dynamically and creatively to a changing environment:

A generation ago, you could characterize somebody's financial life in terms of the four seasons.  Times were simpler then, and young people didn't really have to think much about financial decisions.  They could enjoy a period of financial innocence often depicted as the springtime of youth.  Summer would represent the growing season, when people would enter the workforce and nurture financial assets to grow their net worths.  It used to be typical for a family to have one breadwinner who would often remain with the same employer from graduation to retirement.  Fall would bring the harvest, when people would consolidate their financial position in order to prepare themselves for the winter ahead, which would necessitate living on one's accumulated economic bounty.  Back then, retirees could often count on a pension, employer-provided health care, and Social Security and Medicare benefits set in stone.

Times have changed.  Our financial lives have become exponentially more complex, and the distinctions between the various "seasons" of our financial lives have become blurred.  These days, there is very little in the way of financial innocence.  Children are bombarded with advertising to tempt them to consume, and high school kids are showered with credit card applications.  During working years, people frequently change jobs, or even careers, several times.  In addition, it's not unusual to take sabbaticals during our most productive years, nor to work during retirement.  Consequently, employers have responded by offering more flexible and portable benefit plans, thereby transferring decision-making responsibility to the individual.  The evolution of the family unit, in the form of multiple wage-earners and non-traditional relationships, has further complicated the financial planning landscape.  Finally, life expectancies have increased so much that people can expect to spend as much of their lives retired as they did working, and many pre-retirees must consider simultaneously supporting both younger generations and their parents.  Financial planning needs to be more dynamic to address these complexities, and financial solutions need to be more creative. 

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