Lyft is expected to complete its Initial Public Offering today. As I write this, Lyft’s investment bankers are seeing strong interest in the stock so they are raising the price, which is good for Lyft because they will net more money out of the transaction. However, there are several “issues” with Lyft and its IPO that you at least need to be aware of before buying its stock.

The Lyft Experience

Before I express these issues, have you ever used Lyft? They are a ride sharing service that acts like a taxi. Very similar to Uber. Download the Lyft app on your phone, open an account by linking your credit card, then tell the app where you want to go. A car shows up and it takes you to your destination. Lyft wouldn’t work without the GPS and routing system. Lyft (and Uber) is superior to a taxi because of the routing system – you don’t have to give the driver directions, which is good especially if you don’t know where you are going, other than the address. Also, no awkward cash transactions in the cab of the car – all done by credit card, including tip. Then there is a rating system – 5 stars max. You rate the driver, and the driver rates you. Although you wouldn’t think of getting a ride in someone’s car as a technological breakthrough, Lyft owes its business to cutting edge technology. Lyft (and Uber) is a godsend to some groups, including especially the following:

• Drinkers: Leave your car at home and have someone else drive you to the restaurant or bar.
• People who can’t drive: Now it is possible or at least much easier to get from place to place.
• Kids: Although there are guidelines about it, now parents can send their kids off to their lessons and practices without having to schlepp them. Good for parental productivity.
• The Outer Boroughs: In New York City, the argument in favor of Lyft is that it has always been hard to get a taxi if you aren’t in Manhattan. Now, if you are in Flushing, Queens, just tap the app and a ride appears. Likewise, in other underserved cities or outer neighborhoods, it is much easier to get a Lyft than a cab.

Beware!

Although I am a big advocate of Lyft’s service, I am not as much of an advocate for the Lyft stock IPO. Here are some issues that concern me, starting with the most concerning:

• Dual Class Offering: With the offering, Lyft will have A-class and B-class shares. The public will only be able to buy the A-class, which will have the normal 1 share 1 vote rule. Sounds good so far. However, the new B-class shares will be retained by the current Lyft ownership group and will have 20 votes for every share. That means that the B-class shareholders will (likely) retain majority voting power in Lyft. This makes it difficult if not impossible for an A-class ownership group to band together to effect a change in ownership or change in business practice. Said another way, go ahead and buy the A-class shares, but be prepared to accept current ownership’s business practices.
• No Sunset Provision: Other companies (Facebook, Snap, Google) have dual classes of stock wherein the founders maintain voting control. What’s different about Lyft is that there is no sunset provision on its dual-class stock. This means that, not only do you have to accept the current ownership’s business practices, you also have to accept the business practices of the current ownership’s heirs. This is because there is not a set date in the future when the dual class stock setup ends. Facebook and Google stocks have performed well despite the dual-class structure; Snap has suffered I believe in good part because of it. Lyft will work as a stock only if the current owners are great and execute on their business plan and keep doing so forever. That’s a difficult bet for me to make.
• Losses: In its most recent fiscal year (2018), Lyft lost $911 Million on revenue of $2.2 Billion. That’s a big loss, even if their top line revenue line grew by almost 100%. It means that Lyft isn’t even close to the scale and size they need to be in order to become profitable. It also means that the money they raise from the IPO is absolutely necessary to finance continuing operations and that they will possibly (probably?) need more money until they are at least cash flow neutral. Many companies have gone public in the past even as they lose money (see: Tesla), and some have been more successful than others in eventually turning profitable. However, it is a big risk for an investor to take. Don’t bet the farm on it.
• Low-Cost Producer: Lyft competes with Uber by being a lower cost alternative. That is a broad generalization, but mostly true. Uber is a much larger company, with many more markets. (Uber is also likely to IPO this year). It is difficult for a smaller, lower cost alternative such as Lyft to raise prices to become profitable (or at least cash flow positive) while not losing its low-cost competitive advantage.
• Driver Options: Many drivers drive for both Lyft and Uber at the same time. If you talk to them, they make more money from Uber, but they will take a Lyft ride if there is no better alternative at the time from Uber. At the same time, Uber has been in dispute with its drivers as to whether they are Employees or Contractors. Lyft needs to do something with its drivers to make it more appealing for them to take a Lyft ride over an Uber ride. That could mean making them actual employees or perhaps at least offering them health insurance. Any of these options raise the costs for Lyft, thereby making it more difficult to earn a profit.

IMO

I really like Lyft (and Uber) and I believe their presence as an option for getting from Point A to Point B has really changed the world. However, I am not so sure about the Lyft IPO deal. If you decide to play, dip your toe very lightly.

The US Federal Reserve Bank met earlier this week (March 19 and 20) and their tone turned dovish, or pessimistic about future economic growth. Not only did the Fed leave the Fed Funds rate unchanged, they revised their forecast to say they anticipate no Fed Funds rate increases this year, and they announced they are curtailing the normalization of their balance sheet earlier than previously stated and short of the goal they previously stated. The Fed’s concern is that economic growth is slowing down, and so they revised their US economic growth forecast downward from 2.3% previously to 2.1% now.

Ramifications

Here are some of the ramifications that I believe will result from the Fed’s current position and more pessimistic economic forecast:

• Rates Will Remain Low: I believe and I have stated before that the Fed will not continue to raise rates so high that the yield curve will invert. Prior to the Fed’s meeting, the 10 Year US Treasury Note yielded about 2.6%. Now, after the Fed meeting, it yields 2.54%, after bottoming at 2.5%. Unless economic growth significantly outperforms the Fed’s forecast, there is no reason for rates to increase. Due to global geopolitical uncertainty as well as anemic growth in Europe and slowing growth in China, demand for the safe haven of US Treasuries will continue, which will put even more downward pressure on US rates. Get used to this low rate environment.
• Low Rates Are Good for Corporate Profits: Low interest rates means that companies’ borrowing costs and their cost of capital will remain low, which means that their profits will be boosted. Corporate profits grew due to changes in the corporate tax law in 2017, and while their growth rate is projected to slow, corporate profits will not be hurt by higher interest rates.
• Strong corporate profits are good for stocks. The low interest rate environment is also good for stocks going forward. There is always the danger that corporate profits won’t meet or exceed the high expectations put out there by Wall Street analysts. “Earnings Miss” is a frequent headline in the financial media. However, when you read about an “earnings miss”, read further to determine what the expectation was, then read what the company actually delivered, and then decide for yourself if the headline was truly bad or really should have been good.
• Inflation is not a concern of the Fed: Oil prices peaked in the low $70 per barrel range during 3Q 2018, then dove through 4Q 2018, and have rebounded to the $60 range, still lower than their 2018 peak. Wage growth is in the low 2% range and so within a comfort level with the Fed. The lower growth forecast means there is little catalyst for higher inflation.
• Good for Housing: Lower interest rates mean that mortgage rates should remain favorable and may even fall. Most every metric indicates that we have an undersupply of housing, particularly in some geographic areas. Housing sales and prices were weaker in 2018 due to higher (at that time) mortgage rates as well as because of the reduction in the ability to write off mortgage interest on one’s taxes. As a result, mortgage rates decreased a few ticks and will remain more favorable going forward. While housing growth may not blow it out of the park, I believe the housing sector will be ok and prices and sales volume should perk up for the remainder of 2019.

IMO

I am optimistic because the Fed has set a low bar for US economic performance, and the headlines should be good if the actual performance is better than the Fed’s performance. A low rate environment is good for a lot of sectors – corporate profits and housing among them. Savers won’t like it as much because savings coupon rates will continue to disappoint, but most of the economy will benefit.

We have all read the details about the recent College Admissions Scandal, and so I will add my two cents about it:

• Go where you fit in: Little is being written about how well these children performed at those colleges to which they had been fraudulently admitted. The likely answer is not too well. College is hard enough as it is. Don’t make it harder by playing in the Major Leagues when you should really be in Double A. Better to go to a college where your profile fits the profile of the college and its existing student body.
• You will still find a good job: Trust me on this, you can still find a good job and have a good life even if you don’t go to any of the 20 Top 10 colleges. Many top employers recruit regionally at colleges where they have had success in the past or where their management perhaps attended back in the day. We have a labor shortage in this country. You or your child, equipped with a college degree, will be just fine even if that sheepskin isn’t covered with Ivy.
• Don’t overpay for college: Most of these parents who defrauded college admissions departments did so for the privilege of paying retail to the tune of $70,000 or more per year for private college. USC is the prime example. Hope it is worth it to them. For you, I strongly encourage you to weigh the cost/benefits of attending less expensive state-run colleges and even junior colleges. Unless you objectively believe that your child is at least in the top quartile of academic performers, it is hard to justify the cost of a private college education because that education has become so expensive.
• Think about alternatives to college: A college degree is an elite status checkbox thing. We as a society need to elevate the status of alternatives. If we truly are concerned with things such as income inequality and the welfare of the working class, then we need to raise the value of what the working class can do and achieve. We need mechanics, construction workers, electrical workers, restaurant entrepreneurs, and the like. Most of those don’t require a college degree, but they do require training beyond High School. Often an employer will pay for such training for an employee with a bright future. Studies show that you are financially better off to start work in a skilled trade right out of high school rather than to delay that work to obtain a Bachelor’s degree, even if the Bachelor’s holder’s salary is higher than the trade schooler, because the trade schooler is working and is cash flow positive while the college student is not working and is cash flow negative.
• Easy for me to say: Yes, I have a Bachelor’s from an expensive private university and a Master’s from an expensive public university, so maybe you say I have no right to tell people they shouldn’t get a private college education? Well, the world has changed in the 40 years since I applied to college, mostly because the cost of college has increased exponentially. My point is to look very hard at the cost/benefits of a private college vs. a less expensive alternative.
• College Is An End Unto Itself: Lastly, College isn’t just about what you get or can do as a result of earning your degree. Instead, College and an Education are ends unto themselves. Meaning, College is great because of the education you get. Once you earn your degree, you can’t take it away from you. So, if it is really worth it and you have the werewithal, then go for it if you truly value the College education, But, don’t go into insurmountable debt to do so, and, of course, Don’t Cheat your way in!

I recently had a conversation with someone who was considering two different job options. They were relatively young and early in their career and so they were concerned with developing their skills in order hopefully to move up within the company in the future. With one of the job options, the person would be using skills at which they were proficient and which they enjoyed using. With the other job option, they would be using skills with which they weren’t as comfortable but that they hoped to develop. The person asked me which job opportunity I thought would be best for them and their future development.

I opined that they should take the job that they were good at and liked doing. The caveats were all things being equal, meaning the bosses and the groups were comparable, the salaries and benefits were alike, and advancement opportunities were similar between the two job opportunities. I told this person that I believed they would go farther and get more out of performing the job duties that they were good at. While it is admirable to think about working on one’s weaknesses in an effort to get better at them, I felt they would grow even more if they continued to hone those skills at which they were already good, and that their goal should be to be the best in their company at that particular skill. I also gave the person kudos for recognizing what they were good at and what they weren’t so good at. That’s better self-awareness than many people have.

Why Is This Important For Financial Planning?

Getting the most out of your career and maximizing your salary and bonus within a company is one of the most important elements of a personal or family financial plan. After all, what you make equates to what you eat and where you can live. The decisions you make about your job, as well as your performance on the job, will have financial ramifications for you as you continue to work and thereafter. Therefore, having a personal strategy about what you want to do with your job as well as where you hope to be in 5 to 10 years are very important elements with huge financial ramifications. Work can be very competitive and life is short, so you should make the best of it. Therefore, you should recognize early on what you are good at and find job opportunities that fit what you are good at.

Examples

For instance, there are people who are good at finance, people who are good at sales, and people who are creative. Typically, those aren’t the same people. People aren’t typically good at all disciplines. There are those who are good with other people, and those who aren’t. People who have poor interpersonal skills, for instance, should not take an outward-facing job, even if they think they can improve their people skills with such a job.

Financial Planning

To use and example that is a little closer to home, there are people who are good at investment management and financial planning, and those who aren’t so good at those disciplines. If you recognize you aren’t as good with money matters and you recognize this, then you should work with a Financial Planner. Stick to those skills at which you excel, and delegate that which you aren’t as good to someone who is.

IMO

I feel like I am good at listening to other people and providing them with my perspective about things like what job opportunity they should take, but not as good at being as objective about myself in such circumstances. As a result, I have in the past sought out the perspective of others to help me make important life decisions. It has worked for me, and I believe it would work for you as well.

The American Dream is underpinned by a sense of optimism about the future. Even coming from the poorest of circumstances, Americans in general to this point have believed that they can work their way upward if they just keep their heads down and get up and go to work every day.

I believe that this sense of general optimism may be changing among the Millennial generation and younger. Two of the main factors, I believe, are student loan debt and climate change. The debt is a real issue to those that have it. Climate change is under debate, but a lot of young people believe with religious fervor that our future is doomed due to climate change. So, if you owe tens of thousands of dollars of student debt on which you will be paying heftily every month for 10 years or more, and if you believe we only have a few years left to live in our current state of affairs, then one can see how one can become pessimistic.

Empathy

I have a high level of empathy for those who have a lot of student debt. This article from studentloanhero.com has the statistics, which I summarize as follows:

• Americans owe $1.56 Trillion (with a T) of student loan debt.
• Average debt per borrower is $29,800.
• 11.5% of student loans are 90 days or more past due.
• 75% of graduates from private colleges have loans with an average balance of $32,300.

If you are among any of these statistics, I feel your pain. If you are lucky enough not to have student debt issues, imagine if you did, and the changes in your life that you would have to make. Yes, college graduates have a lower unemployment rate and higher salaries than do non-graduates, but at the cost of student debt that puts a crimp on what you can do once you graduate, especially if you are a stand-up person and pay the debt off like you are supposed to.

Resulting Behavior

I think peoples’ behavior has changed due to this pessimism about the future. For one example, I think the slowdown in the housing market and the level of home purchases over the past year is in no small part due to higher student debt and pessimism due to climate change (among other factors). Think about it: We have almost full employment, with salaries rising (albeit at a lower rate than some think they should), and mortgage rates still low, though slightly higher than they had been for the previous several quarters. Yet, the headlines in 2018 were about a housing slowdown. Why? Because it is difficult to want to commit to a 30 year mortgage when you still have 10 years to go to pay off your student loan, when you are stretching to make your down payment, when maybe you are not overly thrilled with the inventory of housing out there to buy, and when you aren’t sure you will even have a job 15 years from now as the climate is changing. I get the pessimism. Low birth rates, as well: It’s difficult to think about paying to have and raise a child if you are already in hock to the government for your college education. As a result, the US is following the pattern of most Western European nations and Japan, with domestic birth rates below 2.0 per household, well below the volume we need to sustain ourselves.

IMO

The solution? We as a society need to change our collective elitism about college. Some people should pursue alternative careers that don’t necessarily involve college, including trade careers and apprenticeships. Others should look at much-cheaper junior colleges as an alternative or a stepping stone to a Bachelor’s degree. Those of us who are lucky enough to have achieve our Bachelor’s and/or are not weighted down by student debt must change our elitism and value these alternative education experiences and be more understanding of what students need to do now in order to get the sheepskin. Regarding climate change, politicians need to stop with the dire predictions made to enhance their personal political profiles. Instead, let’s have an honest discussion about what practical and affordable changes we can make that are out there within reach and that can benefit everyone. We need to keep the sense of optimism that has driven our economic and social engine for all of these years, and we need to do so despite the factors such as high student debt and dire warnings due to climate change that stand in our way.

“Uncertainty” is now a catch-all reason for why we have sell-offs in the stock market. “Uncertainty regarding a new trade deal with China”, and “Uncertainty regarding the direction the Federal Reserve will take” are two of the more prominent excuses for bad days in the market.

Millennials

Having been around for many cycles, and being the parent of Millennial children myself, I don’t think it used to be this way. Particularly since the Fed’s actions coming out of the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009, I believe investors, and especially the Millennials who cut their teeth during those years, became used to and overly reliant on the Fed broadcasting its moves before they happen. Then, any change to the Fed’s stated plan of action is met with selling due to “uncertainty”. Earlier this year, the Fed got pummeled in the financial media for stating they would be more “data dependent” for future rate hikes rather than clearly stating they would raise x-amount of times over the next year.

China and Trade

Likewise with China. We have gotten used to inexpensive Chinese and other foreign goods coming into our market, so much so that it became a basic foundation for our US economy. Now we have a President who thinks we are overall not getting the better of that relationship. This has caused caterwauls of uncertainty. I am not condoning tariffs, but I am suggesting that the caterwauls have been overdone.

Apple

Another instance of overreaction to uncertainty is when Apple announced it would no longer provide unit sales for the iPhone (and its other products) in an effort to get analysts and investors to look at revenue rather than unit sales. AAPL lost almost 10% of its market cap in the few days after this announcement on November 1, 2018, and, after recovering a bit, proceeded to lose about 38% of its market cap peak-to-trough through the end of 2018. AAPL has recovered about 21% since then, but I see the 2018 drawdown as a huge overreaction to not knowing how many iPhones they were selling. Analysts and investors had become conditioned and had gotten used to knowing unit sales with certitude, and taking that certitude away from them made them mad.

You Can Profit

You can profit if you are willing to live with what others consider to be added uncertainty. For instance, are you ok with Apple publishing revenue numbers but not unit sales? Others are not ok, but if you are, and you still believe in AAPL’s future earnings, then you may have a leg up and you might have a good buying opportunity. Are you ok with the Fed not telling you exactly how many interest rate increases they plan to do during 2019? Others are not ok with that because it is a change from the way the Fed has been doing business for the last 10 years. However, if you are ok with a more “data dependent” and flexible Fed approach, then you can profit by keeping a cooler head about you. Data fluctuates. Don’t you think it is wiser to keep data fluctuations in mind before making decisions that affect the nation’s economy? I do. Do you really believe, when all is said and done, that there will be a drastic change in the number of goods the US will import from China and other low-cost producers? Possibly, I believe, but not sufficient to have caused all of the drama that has fallen out over the day-to-day reporting of Trade Negotiations with China.

IMO

This is a variation on the Warren Buffet riff – “Be greedy when others are fearful.” I am not saying you should be greedy. I am saying that what actually happens after the reported “uncertainty” ends up being not really that bad. If you can live with a few downs to go along with the many ups, then you will probably make out ok in the long run.

It’s March, so you may soon get your annual Social Security Statement in the mail. At the top, it will say about what your payment will be at Full Retirement Age. Seems simple, right?

Read The Fine Print

Well, it’s not quite that simple. If you read the assumptions for how the SSA calculates your benefit, you will see that they assume you will continue to work and pay into Social Security until Full Retirement Age. So, if you are inclined to continue to go to work every day until your mid to late 60’s, have at it! However, for those of us who might not want to stick around at the office water cooler that long, the Social Security Statement of benefits is not fully accurate.

Calculate Your Own Benefits

Instead of relying on the Social Security Administration’s calculation, you will have to calculate your own benefits yourself. How might you do that? Go to the Social Security Administration website, ssa.gov, and go to the bottom of the home page. There is an icon there called Calculators. Click that, and then click the Online Calculator icon. Next, you have to manually input your earnings record for every year. It’s somewhat of a pain to do so, but it really doesn’t take very long. Then you have to assume you will quit working at some point during the next 2 years. For the experiment that I ran, I assumed my client would pay in during 2019 but not at all in 2020 and thereafter. The client still has several years to go until Full Retirement Age. Next, you choose whether you want your calculation done in today’s dollars or in inflated future dollars – I find it easier to understand using today’s dollars. Finally, you hit Calculate, and voila! You have calculated your own Social Security benefits! The Online Calculator function is limited in that you can’t input different levels of earnings for each year 2020 and beyond, but it is useful for what it does.

Differences

In general, the closer you are to Full Retirement Age, the less the difference will be between the SSA’s calculation and your own calculation of your benefits. If you are in your mid-50’s or older and you have been paying in all of these years but you don’t want to calculate your own benefits, as a general rule, you can take the SSA’s calculation, and your actual benefit will be about 97% of that amount if you quit work next year but don’t file to receive Social Security benefits until Full Retirement Age. If you are younger than your mid-50’s, I highly recommend you do your own Benefits calculation. Those of us who are in their late 50’s or older probably pay more attention to what their Social Security benefits will be. Nevertheless, for anyone, knowing what your Social Security benefits will be is an important element of your financial and retirement planning at any age.

Vocabulary

If you read your Statement, or, better yet, create an account at ssa.gov, be mindful of the meaning of the word “retirement”. For the SSA, “retirement” means that you quit work and immediately file to receive social security benefits. However, you probably think about “retirement” in terms of no longer going to work every day. The filing for benefits part is a separate issue. Then there is Full Retirement Age, or FRA. FRA is based on what year you were born in, and the following chart breaks it down:

In general, you can file for Social Security as early as Age 62, but your benefits will be 8% per year lower than they would be if you wait to file until your FRA. Alternatively, your benefits grow 8% for each year you wait to file after your FRA up to age 70.

IMO

Because of recent law changes, there are fewer strategies available for filing for Social Security benefits. It is much more straightforward. However, there are some different things to think about, including whether to file early, or wait until FRA, or wait even longer. A good financial planner can help you make those decisions.

Are you actively looking for a job? If you are, you may be going about your job search in the wrong way, according to this article from The Wall Street Journal. Written from the purview of the employer, the article says that recruiters and companies prefer to hire “passive” candidates, meaning candidates who aren’t actively looking for a new job. If you are actively job-hunting, this means perhaps that the best way to find the new job you covet is to convey a sense of nonchalance about the process and the job. In order to get hired, become more passive about the process. Sounds counterintuitive, but maybe not.

Damaged Goods

The desire to hire outside candidates who demonstrate little or no desire to work for you falls from the notion that if that person is actively out there searching for a job, then there must be something wrong with that person. They must be damaged goods, in some way or another. Perhaps they don’t fit well within a corporate structure, or they are not Team Players, or their skills aren’t up to par. Therefore, the logic goes, it is better to hire people who are content in their current jobs and to persuade them that your company and this new job opportunity would be superior to what they currently have. As a result, the Wall Street Journal article says, enthusiastic candidates who are actively seeking get passed by in favor of those who are less enthusiastic but fit the process better. That’s why the title of the article is “The Biggest Mistakes Companies Make With Hiring”.

Playing Hard To Get

This is like “Playing Hard To Get’ while dating. If you want to date someone, act like you don’t want to, and your target will be more intrigued. It’s no fun unless you have to fight for it, right? Now, in retrospect, is “Playing Hard To Get” really the right way to go about it? Do more lasting relationships start with “Hard To Get” or with more active partners? I don’t know the answer, but it is worth pondering. I will say that today’s online dating scene is antithetical to the “Hard To Get” playbook. If you are using a dating app, it’s all out there. Maybe this is a shift in the strategy of how partners hook up. Likewise, maybe job-hunting sites like Indeed or LinkedIn signals a shift from hiring passive candidates to hiring more active ones.

IMO

Finding a good job is probably the most fundamental part of financial planning. If you are job-seeking, maybe you should try to play “Hard To Get”, if it is in your nature to do so. Personally, I am not that way, but it does work for some people. You have to have a strong sense of yourself to be a passive player, which is perhaps why some employers prefer passive players.

By the way: You should also click the Comments section related to this “The Biggest Mistakes” article in the Wall Street Journal. I’m sure you will relate to a lot of the comments readers have made.

This is a blog post about an article about a recent Gallup poll. The poll says that 69% of Americans believe their financial situation will be better off one year from now than it is currently, and only 16% believe they will be worse off financially in a year. Furthermore, if you read the article and look at the chart that shows the poll results for the past 40+ years, you will see that Americans have remained consistently optimistic for the past 10 years.

Polls

I generally don’t read much into polling, particularly now. I’m sure you all get plenty of calls on a daily basis that tell you they are taking a survey and want you to participate. What is your normal and understandable reaction? Of course, it is to say No Thank You and hang up. Robo-calls asking you to participate in a survey are now more commonplace than ever. Because I don’t participate, I guess that others don’t either, and that to me skews the results. That said, I do sense that this particular Gallup poll gets it about right – maybe not the exact 69% number, but the sense that most people are optimistic about their own financial future.

Contrast

The fact that Americans are steadily optimistic about their future stands in contrast to the daily gyrations and increased volatility that we are seeing in the stock markets. If you watch financial media and believe that the changes in stock market prices reflect changing levels of optimism, and that a selloff day in the market means fewer investors are optimistic, then this Gallup poll refutes that sense. Instead, the Gallup results probably mean that most people don’t pay much attention to the stock market and its volatility level. They keep their heads down, go to work, go about their day, support their families, and don’t let the noise get them down. Good for them! It means people deal with what they can control and don’t worry about what they can’t control. This is a coping mechanism. If you have to get up every day and go to work, then it’s best for your mental and physical health that you have a rosy view about what you are doing.

IMO

If you are an Eeyore and walk around with a dark cloud about your financial future, I recommend that you work with a financial professional (such as me) so that you can lift that cloud. Join the majority of Americans and feel good about your future through proper financial planning. You would go to a psychologist if you had mental health issues, so go to a financial shrink when you have financial mental health issues.