My wife and I recently cleaned out our cupboard. We had bought some new cups and glasses and the cupboard was now too full. It had been several years since we had cleaned up the cupboard and we had accumulated a lot of items that we found that we weren’t using. Our children are either working (and off the household payroll!) or away at college (and still very much on the payroll). So, a couple of weeks ago, it was out with the old and in with the new! Most of the “treasures” that we either tossed or donated probably won’t be missed – we didn’t talk with our kids about this. Now the cupboard is much less crowded and much easier to deal with. Now it is a joy to open it up and see all of our glasses and cups properly arranged and easily accessible!

The Moral 

The moral of the story:  Clean out your own cupboard, in the greatest meaning of the phrase.  As we get older (and we all do), things we accumulated over time may not have the same application or use now that it did when you bought it.  When you get to a certain age, you want to move forward with less, not more.  It’s easier to maneuver that way and things are more orderly.

Rebalance

This goes for investments as well as for personal possessions.  A stock you bought several years ago may have already run its course.  Maybe you are hanging on to that stock because you haven’t gotten around to selling it, or you think it still has room to run.  Instead, maybe you should sell it now and redeploy the money into something you think can grow at a higher rate, or don’t redeploy it and keep it as a cash gift to yourself.  One way to “clean out the cupboard” in your investments is to rebalance your portfolio at least once per year.  Set a goal of what your asset allocation should look like – say 60% stocks and 40% bonds – and make sure it looks like that every January 2, or any other date of your choosing.  

IMO

Just like some people need a personal trainer to motivate them to get to the gym and do their exercises, you may need a Financial Planner to keep you in financial shape.  The Financial Planner will encourage you to clean out your cupboard (financially), not necessarily because they are paid by the transaction, but because it is in their best interest to do so.  Please contact me if you want help cleaning out your own cupboard!